TEARLESS 
 NVESTIGATOR
 
 Men
 
 A FEARLESS 
 
 INVESTIGATOR 
 
 CH I CAGO 
 
 A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 
 1896
 
 COPYRIGHT 
 BY A. C. McCLURG & Co. 
 
 A. D. 1896
 
 A FEARLESS INVESTIGATOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IF you, intelligent reader, had seen me, John 
 Hardy, as I sat one pleasant May morning in 
 my sister's sewing-room, you would have thought, 
 if you had observed me at all, that I was a young 
 man of wealth and ease ; that the pallor of my 
 face and the thinness of my legs were incidental, 
 not constitutional. 
 
 It is the habitual state of a man's mind which 
 shows in his outward appearance, and for more 
 than a quarter of a century I had known only 
 health, wealth and ease. 
 
 The child who has sat in Fortune's lap for more 
 than a quarter of a century and received only 
 caresses, is surprised when suddenly that unac- 
 countable goddess strikes him a stinging blow. 
 
 Six months before the opening of our story my 
 inherited fortune and I parted company ; and 
 while mildly trying to adjust myself to new 
 
 2061744
 
 6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 conditions I was warmly embraced by typhoid 
 fever. 
 
 When pronounced convalescent, I was allowed 
 to sit an hour or two every morning in my sister 
 Nanny's sewing-room while she busied herself in 
 the nursery just beyond. This gave me a feeling 
 of freedom; at the same time, Nanny could have 
 heard me if I had made any attempt to escape. 
 The doctor had made his final visit, leaving with 
 the cheerful injunction " Now fill him up ! " 
 
 I never had considered my sister, Mrs. Tom 
 Davenport, a parsimonious person, but I firmly 
 believe now that people cannot be truly liberal 
 providers until they have had a fever. 
 
 I wondered, as I looked at my thin hands and 
 legs that suggested rake-handles in bags, if my 
 sister had forgotten what the doctor had said. 
 
 It was a fine morning, and I sat in the wide win- 
 dow of the sewing-room where Nanny had ordered 
 me to go for my sun-bath. 
 
 No one, except the baby, had taken any notice 
 of me for some time. She had crept up to my 
 knees, white and wholesome-looking, fresh from 
 her bath, and although the thought had occurred 
 to me that perhaps she would not be bad eating, 
 I had not permitted it to dwell in my mind for an 
 instant; and when I saw her nurse I ordered the 
 little fat thing taken out of the room.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 7 
 
 '' I sent her to see you because I thought she 
 would amuse you," said my sister, coming in and 
 drawing out her cutting table; "did she trouble 
 you?" 
 
 " She might if I had eaten her," I replied, " but 
 I thought perhaps you could find something less 
 expensive, if not so palatable." 
 
 " John ! " She came to the window and looked 
 me in the eye. I returned the look without the 
 quiver of an eyelash. " You look perfectly sane," 
 she murmured, and went back to her work. In a 
 moment I heard the click of her scissors on the 
 cutting table. 
 
 I waited to see if she had any mercy in her soul ; 
 but when I found she could cut a hope and sever 
 it from me, forever, as fast as I could raise one, I 
 said in a fairly steady voice, " Nan, I spared your 
 baby ; is this the way you reward my self-control? " 
 
 She dropped into a chair and let the long piece 
 of cloth she was cutting slide to the floor. She 
 was almost in tears. "John, dear, if you are crazy 
 again, or are going to have a relapse, we really 
 must have the nurse back." 
 
 " If you get a nurse," I implored, " get a 
 younger one, a plumper one ; one that has n't seen 
 much service ; one that I can eat ! " 
 
 "John," she was trying to speak calmly, "do 
 you mean to say that you are hungry ? It is not
 
 8 A Fearless Investigator, 
 
 an hour since you had breakfast, and you ate like 
 a boa-constrictor ; ten men on a farm could not eat 
 in a week what you ate in half an hour ! " Then, 
 more mildly, "Why, it frightens me, dear." 
 
 " Did n't the doctor say to fill me up ? and here 
 you are counting my mouthfuls." 
 
 " John, dear, you are weak and ungentlemanly ; 
 I am positively afraid to give you more." 
 
 " The doctor said to fill me up ! " I roared. 
 
 " I intend to go and see if he meant that literally." 
 She spoke firmly as she arose and threw down her 
 work. " If it had been the minister," I cried, 
 " you might have taken it figuratively, but the 
 doctor " 
 
 Alas ! She had disappeared, and in a few min- 
 utes I heard the front door close suddenly. 
 
 I rang the bell and ordered the maid who an- 
 swered it to go to the cook and get me anything 
 she had that was good, bad, or left over. She 
 was gone so long I was obliged to ring again. 
 This time she only looked in at the door and said 
 the cook told her Mrs. Davenport had left orders 
 for no food to be taken up stairs until she came 
 back. 
 
 I managed to preserve my dignity before the 
 maid, but was just on the point of breaking down 
 a few minutes later, when I heard Nanny come in, 
 and she was not alone. " It is Thurston Moore," 
 she said. " May he come up ? "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 9 
 
 " Yes," I called out, " if he does n't mind being 
 eaten." 
 
 " Not a bit ! '' cried Thurston Moore, and his 
 strong voice seemed to fill the house with a new 
 life. " You will find me well baked, too, for it 's as 
 hot as summer out. Tell me, are you all right 
 again ? " By this time he had reached the door 
 and caught sight of me. 
 
 "Jove, what legs! But the doctor told Mrs. 
 Davenport to let you eat every five minutes if you 
 could, and I know what you are going to have. 
 Here it comes, and while you eat I can talk to you. 
 Did you get mother's letter? " 
 
 " Yes ; and I appreciated it, too," I replied, with 
 an eye ever turning towards Nanny, who was ar- 
 ranging my lunch table. 
 
 " Prove it by going back with me the carriage 
 is at the door." 
 
 " Wait at least a week, Thurston," cried Nanny. 
 " Why, if you should take him to-day, he would eat 
 your house and your furniture." 
 
 " Then The Poplars is just the place for you, 
 John, lots of old furniture that ought to be eaten. 
 And now is the time to come. You don't want to 
 be behind the times, and not to be, you must in- 
 vestigate. Investigate without prejudice! Oh! 
 come to The Poplars ! Mother will look out for 
 your health, and I will see that you are amused."
 
 io A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 When I was a boy Mrs. Moore had been my 
 ideal of a friend and a hostess. I had always 
 thought my mother conventional and aristocratic, 
 while Mrs. Moore worshipped no form and was 
 democratic. Their friendship grew out of the fact 
 that they had been thrown together m their youth, 
 when hearts are warm and heads have not learned 
 the art of advantageous selection. 
 
 It was years since Nanny or I had visited The 
 Poplars, yet in my financial and physical downfall 
 Mrs. Moore was the first to come and make me 
 feel that I had made no mistake in not dying. 
 
 " The doctor said that you needed to have your 
 mind taken off yourself," continued Thurston, per- 
 suasively. " Come to The Poplars, and I will invite 
 Emmanuel Temple and his wife, Consolation, to 
 meet you. I '11 defy you to remember yourself 
 when they are present. Old Protoplasm, we call 
 him. And you shall see the twins the Infant 
 Protoplasts." 
 
 " Do be careful what you say to him ! " cried 
 Nanny. " Why, he is just out of delirium." 
 
 " I only wanted to amuse him," Thurston said, 
 laughing. " Old Protoplasm is a materialist, and 
 his wife is a spiritualist." 
 
 "How can you be interested in such people, 
 Thurston ! " Nanny exclaimed, her expression be- 
 traying more than surprise.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 1 
 
 " Why, I love them ! " he returned fervidly. 
 " Really, now, to enjoy yourself at our house, John, 
 you must throw yourself right into the spirit of it. 
 It 's a lot like chorus singing; if you 're in it, why 
 it's grand, but if you are just outside, you 'd better 
 miss it altogether. You know Clara Norton. She 
 is very anxious to see Consolation Temple, and she 
 has promised to come out next week. It 's going 
 to be a rare week for an investigator ! " 
 
 " Clara Norton? Why, I remember about her," 
 Nanny said. " She was a poor little Irish child 
 that the Nortons adopted, was n't she ? " 
 
 "Yes," and a little color rose in Thurston's 
 face ; " but she will marry a gentleman, you 
 will see." 
 
 " Think so ? " Nanny's tone sounded as if she 
 thought it was doubtful. 
 
 I hinted that a million dollars might make any 
 man forget a girl's origin. 
 
 " It never would make you forget it," said 
 Nanny, a little sharply, I thought. 
 
 " We must wait for the future to answer that," I 
 said, seating myself at the table without asking 
 Thurston to join me. 
 
 " I suppose you heard I flunked at Cam- 
 bridge ? " Thurston evidently had a desire to 
 change the subject. 
 
 " That is nothing," I hastened to say, as the
 
 12 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 blood mounted his frank face. " You are not out 
 of your teens yet. There 's time enough for you." 
 
 " That may be," he returned, laughing ; " but 
 after being promised at a high-priced seance, by 
 the spirit of Daniel Webster, that I should pull 
 through, it rather shook my faith in Webster, as 
 well as myself." 
 
 " I think that was rather shabby in Webster, 
 don't you, Nanny ? " As she made no reply, I con- 
 tinued : " Since my delirium, Thurston, I have 
 made up my mind to become a genuine psychical 
 researcher. A fearless investigator ! " 
 
 "Investigator!" Nanny exclaimed, in the most 
 contemptuous tone. " You investigate anything at 
 present but lunch tables, and you will find yourself 
 in an asylum." 
 
 " I have always felt that if I could only get pre- 
 sented to some genuine ghosts perhaps I might be- 
 come popular with them," said I, turning to 
 Thurston, and ignoring Nanny's last remark. 
 
 " O, I am sure of it," he said, encouragingly. 
 "How could you help it? Think how near the 
 grave you Ve been why, I suppose they almost 
 counted you among them." 
 
 " That 's a great way to talk ! " I exclaimed. 
 "The doctor ordered only cheerful subjects for 
 me." 
 
 " If dodging the grave isn't a cheerful subject, I
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 13 
 
 don't know what is,'' said Thurston ; " but eat 
 your luncheon now." 
 
 " And when the luncheon is gone I really want 
 something new. Thurston, I must be amused and 
 forget reality for a time." 
 
 " Come to The Poplars," said he, warmly. 
 " Come and see your grandmother, as large as life 
 and twice as natural, poking her head through a 
 window a foot and a half square, and then by de- 
 grees coming out at you entirely ; not a rib nor an 
 ounce missing ! " 
 
 "It would be an awful strain on a window 
 that size if my grandmother's dignity could stand 
 it, would n't it, Nanny ? " But my sister had 
 left the room. " My grandmother weighed two 
 hundred and twenty pounds the day she died, 
 Thurston ! " 
 
 " The compressibility of ghosts is something 
 wonderful," said Thurston, simply. 
 
 " But are they ghosts if they are materialized ? " 
 I demanded. " It sounds like a contradiction in 
 terms ; and to me the ghosts of our grandfathers 
 had some dignity compared with the material- 
 ized spirits that are handed round in the circles 
 of to-day. There is as much difference as there 
 is between the tiger in his native jungle, and 
 the caged beast in a menagerie. I only know 
 from reading ; but from all I have read or heard
 
 i 4 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 of the phenomena of spiritualism, I think mate- 
 rialization its most disgusting phase." 
 
 " There you are, you see, starting with a preju- 
 dice ! " Thurston exclaimed. " If you are going to 
 investigate, you must agree to drop all prejudice. 
 Consolation Temple told me that. I will give 
 you one week to drop every prejudice that you 
 hold." 
 
 " You will allow me a grain of common sense, 
 won't you ? " I begged. 
 
 " Not one particle," he declared ; " why, common 
 sense in an investigator is as damaging as white 
 light in a photographer's dark room. If you come 
 to The Poplars next week you leave all common 
 sense behind." 
 
 " You leave all common sense behind ! " I Re- 
 peated the words many times in the seven days 
 which followed Thurston Moore's visit. 
 
 " I am sure it will do you good to go," said 
 Nanny, the evening before the day set for my visit 
 to The Poplars. " I have felt sorry to have any 
 feeling but that of friendship towards mother's 
 oldest friend ; I shall always like her and I shall 
 never forget the delightful times I had at her 
 house when I was a child ; but her new ideas to 
 me are simply disgusting." 
 
 " How do you know what her ideas are ? " I 
 inquired, a little petulantly.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 15 
 
 " She has all sorts of people at her house. We 
 know that." Nanny spoke very positively. 
 
 " They may interest her. It does n't follow that 
 she accepts all their ideas." 
 
 " Never mind, you must not accept them be- 
 cause you visit her." 
 
 " They couldn't be any worse than some of my 
 own have been lately." 
 
 " Forget all that you have suffered, dear. Go away 
 and be amused the change will do you good, and 
 everything will look brighter when you get back. 
 I am not afraid to trust you even at The Poplars." 
 
 " After a man has passed a few weeks in the 
 delirium of typhoid fever, Nan, I tell you he feels 
 a new interest in psychical phenomena." I saw 
 her looking at me with troubled eyes. " You were 
 never very sick, were you ? " 
 
 " No," she answered, with a sigh. 
 
 " After you have been shut away from the world 
 awhile you have no idea how petty and mean many 
 things appear when you come back. Perhaps you 
 don't understand me 
 
 " No, I am sure I don't ; and I don't care any- 
 thing about metaphysics any way. I am only 
 anxious to get you well, and staying in the city 
 until Tom and I can go away is not going to 
 do it." 
 
 " We have never visited Mrs. Moore since
 
 1 6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mother died, Nanny. If I were not bankrupt and 
 ill, should I think of going there now ? There, it is 
 out ! Where are your metaphysics there ? " 
 
 " Or," she returned, coolly, " if you were in 
 Europe on your wedding tour, you probably would 
 not have been invited. And you might have been, 
 John Hardy. You might have had a fortune and 
 one of the sweetest girls in Boston ; and better 
 than all that, one of good family." 
 
 " No, you are mistaken," I said, calmly, " if you 
 are thinking of Dora Salem. She has much more 
 self-respect than either you or I gave her credit 
 for possessing. I envy the man who marries her, 
 because he will care for her; and if it is any grati- 
 fication to you to know that she could have bought 
 your brother, but would not, it is a pleasure I will 
 not deny you." 
 
 She paled a little, and a flash of anger shot 
 through her handsome blue eyes. " It would be 
 taking an advantage of you to tell you what I 
 think while you are weak ; but when you are strong, 
 I will do it." 
 
 " I know your ideas very well, Nan. Am I not 
 quite ready to marry for money ? But I will never 
 marry a true lady for her fortune, if I ever find my- 
 self enabled to do it." 
 
 "John Hardy, do you suppose I would ask you 
 to marry for mere money ! " She spoke wrathfully
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 7 
 
 now. " But suppose that you could do such a 
 thing, remember the more commonplace the 
 woman, the more terrible would be your punish- 
 ment. You are the worst kind of a sentimentalist. 
 The truth is, you are waiting for that which will 
 never come to you, John Harding, never ! I am 
 older than you, and I tell you this grand passion 
 we read of is only granted to geniuses and fools ; 
 and you are neither. If Dora Salem has ever 
 refused your hand, it is because you offered it 
 most awkwardly." 
 
 " I did not say that I had ever offered it." 
 
 " But you implied it." 
 
 " I told her all about breaking my engagement 
 with Jeannette, just as if it was the story of an- 
 other man, and asked her what she would think of 
 such a fellow ; and she said she could only despise 
 him. 'He is your humble servant,' said I, and I 
 would have gone on and said a great deal more, 
 but she excused herself and left the room. I 
 thought no woman could lose an opportunity of 
 refusing a man ; but Dora Salem would not listen 
 to a man she did not respect." 
 
 " I said, John, that nothing should lead me to 
 talk with you until you are well. Go away and 
 stay a few weeks, and when you come back, bring 
 your reason with you, and we can talk to some 
 purpose." She left the room, and when she came 
 back we began to talk again of the Moores. 
 
 2
 
 1 8 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Later, when she talked with Tom about my pro- 
 posed visit, he declared it to be " a first-rate idea ; " 
 and when she spoke of Mrs. Moore's eccentricities, 
 he asked what she meant by eccentricities, and 
 Nanny replied, " For one thing, Dora Salem said 
 that when her brother, Dwight, called there, a man 
 was in the reception room, and actually presented 
 to him, who wore ridiculously short pantaloons, 
 woollen stockings, and cowhide shoes ; and he had 
 hay in his hair." 
 
 " If the poor man had known what an ass 
 Dwight was, he never would have dared to be pre- 
 sented to him with hay in his hair for fear of los- 
 ing his head," said Tom. 
 
 I laughed so hard I had to be put to bed. This 
 made Nanny angry, for she worships the Salems. 
 She could excuse Tom because he was not a Bos- 
 ton man and had only learned since his marriage 
 what families had halos. He said when he first 
 came to the Hub he always put a halo over a 
 pretty face, but invariably had to take it down. 
 But Tom has his good points, if he did happen to 
 be born west of the Alleghanies; and if he had 
 been appointed my guardian for life, it would have 
 been my own money, instead of his. which he left 
 on the bed when he said good-night, and hoped I 
 should get off all right the next day.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IT was a grand old place, the home of Thurston 
 Moore. It had taken its name from, to me, 
 its least attractive feature, a row of five Lom- 
 bardy poplars, standing a few yards from the front 
 door. 
 
 It had been the home of pride and courteous 
 prejudice for generations ; but Time, that old 
 satirist, who is always insisting upon new deals 
 and waggish changes, threw it into the hands of 
 Josiah Moore, a man who appreciated it simply 
 for its market value. 
 
 Madam Rumor said that Moore had been a hard 
 man, who had oppressed many in his time ; and 
 this same free-tongued dame even included his wife 
 in the number. At his death, his widow transformed 
 the old house into a modern mansion, and then 
 Madam Rumor said that no one was too poor, or 
 too despised, to find a welcome there. 
 
 Nanny had a friend who was a descendant of 
 the old merchant who had built the house, and she
 
 2 o A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 told Nanny that if her ancestor could know the kind 
 of people Mrs. Moore entertained in his house, he 
 would turn over in his tomb. But at the same 
 time Madam Rumor said that it was claimed by 
 a friend of Mrs. Moore's that this same old ances- 
 tor had not only turned over in his tomb, but had 
 come out of it entirely and encouraged the lady in 
 the desecration of the place. 
 
 When these reports reached Nanny, she always 
 expressed herself in her positive way. As I lay 
 back in the old depot carriage, as it passed 
 through the long avenue of budding trees, which 
 stopped abruptly before reaching the house, as if 
 to give the full weight of value to the ghostly 
 poplars, I felt accountable for all Nanny had said, 
 added to the weight of all that had remained un- 
 expressed, in my own mind, and a flush of shame 
 came for a moment to my cheeks. But I eased 
 my conscience as the carriage stopped by promis- 
 ing, if occasion offered, to make a clean breast of 
 it to Mrs. Moore. 
 
 The warm May sunshine shone with almost the 
 fervor of summer upon the broad piazza, where a 
 man was swinging gently in a hammock. 
 
 When the carriage stopped, he turned his head 
 in a sleepy manner, but did not stop swinging. 
 
 The driver, a clear-headed boy, after he had put 
 down my travelling bag, stopped and looked as if
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 21 
 
 he had some idea of speaking to the man in the 
 hammock, or expected a remark from him ; but 
 neither spoke, and he returned to the carriage. 
 
 As he took up the reins, the man threw out one 
 leg from the hammock as if it had been a grappling 
 iron and said iu a drawling, nasal tone, " Wait a 
 minute, sir." 
 
 The boy drew in his horse violently and leaned 
 out over the wheel expectantly. 
 
 " I am going to lecture next week in Peoria," 
 drawled the man. 
 
 " Well, you '11 have darn good luck if you pay 
 expenses ! " Nothing could exceed the velocity 
 with which the words were spoken. At the same 
 instant the boy withdrew his head, and giving his 
 horse a stinging cut with his long whip, turned so 
 suddenly I expected to see the carriage overturned. 
 
 When he had disappeared the man drew in his 
 grapple and said, " I owe that boy fifty cents for 
 bringing Consolation, and me, and the babies up 
 here one night when it rained." Then, as he saw me 
 reach for the door-bell, he continued in the same 
 tone, " Mrs. Moore has gone away ; there is no- 
 body in the house but the hired girls, and the 
 black man. Maria Williams has gone out to 
 walk." 
 
 I felt that I had made a mistake in coming to 
 The Poplars. I was not so strong as I had imag-
 
 22 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 ined. I dropped into the nearest chair and 
 looked down and saw my legs tremble ; but worse 
 than that, the words " Maria Williams has gone 
 out to walk," kept repeating themselves over and 
 over in my mind, in the same drawling, nasal tone 
 this man had used, and I closed my eyes in help- 
 less misery. 
 
 " I thought that vehicle was going to overturn, 
 didn't you?" he inquired, still swinging gently. 
 
 I felt obliged to answer and said, " I had for- 
 gotten the carriage." 
 
 " Light minds move rapidly," he drawled. 
 " Have n't you seen a woman keep track of every- 
 thing that was taking place in a large room full of 
 people ? May be you have a woman's mind. Well, 
 sir, if that vehicle had overturned, and had been 
 demolished, do you think that I ought to be held 
 responsible for its demolition ? " 
 
 I felt confident now that my delirium had re- 
 turned. I remembered just such creatures as 
 this man. If I did not answer him he would give 
 me another question, perhaps more difficult, and 
 I said, " Why should you pay for it ? " 
 
 " When I called out ' wait ! that boy thought I 
 was going to pay him the fifty cents I owed him ; 
 he was disappointed; the revulsion of feeling 
 caused him to bring about a natural state in har- 
 mony with his mental state : if his precipitation
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 23 
 
 had produced a casualty, I should have been the 
 primitive cause, and, by consequence, responsible. 
 
 " It is next week," I thought; " I am in Peoria. 
 I am hearing his lecture. No, I am mistaken. 
 He says now, 'Maria Williams is coming back 
 from her walk.' I heard a light step upon the 
 gravel walk, and a moment later a faded, but 
 still handsome woman walked up the steps. She 
 was tall, and I thought a little thin, and the first 
 law of nature suggested to me that if she were a 
 guest at The Poplars there might be a crossing of 
 gastronomic swords ; but I felt a little ashamed of 
 this when she came towards me with the most 
 hospitable manner and said, "This is Mr. Hardy, 
 I am sure, and Mrs. Moore has driven in town 
 to bring you out. How long have you been 
 "here ? " 
 
 I said I had but just arrived, and made an 
 effort to stand well and not look hungry. 
 
 " You must be very tired," she said, kindly. " Let 
 us go in and get some wine." 
 
 She took up my travelling bag, and while I 
 made a few vain attempts to take it from her, the 
 man in the hammock drawled out, " How do you 
 do, Maria Williams? " 
 
 She turned in surprise and exclaimed, "Why, 
 Emmanuel Temple! Did n't you get my letter ?" 
 
 " Yes, Maria Williams, I got your letter, but we
 
 24 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 have had a notice to leave the house to-day. Con- 
 solation went to give a lecture before the Think- 
 ing Woman's Temperance and Ethical Society; 
 and Mrs. Powers, a new boarder, said she would 
 take care of the babies while she was gone. I 
 thought Mrs. Moore's advice would be the best 
 thing I could have or yours." 
 
 She smiled and said, " Let us go in, Mr. Hardy, 
 and you lie down in the library while I get some 
 wine and biscuits." 
 
 I could not conceal the fatigue the little jaunt 
 had given me, and her simple, kindly manner made 
 me cease to make the effort. I was glad to lie 
 down upon a comfortable lounge, and think of 
 my wine and biscuits. 
 
 " The idea," she said, " of sitting out there with 
 nothing to eat after riding so far! Mrs. Moore will 
 regret very much that I was away." 
 
 " Then you know, madam, the fiend that ac- 
 companies a convalescent." 
 
 " If you have come possessed of only one fiend," 
 she said, laughing, as she arranged a little table be- 
 side the lounge, " I am sure we can exorcise him." 
 
 " Only one, I promise you, madame, only one ; 
 but such a fiend ! If you drive him away at four 
 o'clock, he returns at five as powerful as ever." 
 
 While I spoke I looked up and saw Emmanuel 
 Temple standing in the doorway. I begged her
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 25 
 
 not to remain with me while he seemed anxious to 
 speak with her. 
 
 " Come .in," she said, smiling pleasantly. " It 
 seems a little absurd to introduce two people one 
 finds sitting and talking together on a piazza, but 
 as Mr. Temple is rather conventional, let me pre- 
 sent you, Mr. Hardy." 
 
 " Maria Williams can find ludicrosity anywhere, 
 Mr. Hardy. A direct misstatement she thinks a 
 joke. I hold no respect for conventionality. Con- 
 ventionality is a chain that will fit itself round the 
 neck and heels of any one who will bear it. Peo- 
 ple complain when it hurts, or grows heavy ; but 
 they won't take it off." 
 
 " There is much truth in what Mr. Temple says, 
 Mr. Hardy. At this moment you know that we both 
 have the kindest sympathy for your illness, and yet 
 you wait to have us beg you to eat before you faint 
 away." Without waiting for me to reply, she 
 turned and said, " Emmanuel Temple, could you 
 have misunderstood my letter? " 
 
 " No," he said, calmly. " The nature of it was 
 anything but complex. You did not want me to 
 come here because Mrs Moore's sister-in-law was 
 coming." 
 
 " Then you did understand it? " 
 
 " Perfectly. You write a very direct and com- 
 prehensive letter, Maria Williams."
 
 26 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Not comprehensive enough to be effectual, it 
 seems," she returned gently. 
 
 " Paul, the greatest epistolary genius of the 
 world, couldn't control circumstances, Maria. I 
 do not claim with Ebenezer Samson that the world 
 owes me a living, although I think there should be 
 no alimentary produce remaining in anybody's 
 possession unappropriated, while any animal, from 
 man down to the lowest mammal, requires sus- 
 tenance." 
 
 " It seems to me no- one could disagree with you, 
 sir," said I, taking up a fine bunch of Hamburgs. 
 
 " Maria Williams does." He did not seem the 
 least offended. He said this in precisely the same 
 tone he had said, " Maria Williams has gone to 
 walk." 
 
 The lady laughed, and after a moment's hesita- 
 tion said, " I agree with you, Mr. Temple ; but 
 hospitality should never be garroted." 
 
 I looked for a shade of embarrassment or a 
 flush of anger on his swarthy cheek, but saw 
 neither. 
 
 " I told Consolation only this morning," he said 
 -simply, " that I was not ashamed to apply to the 
 city for assistance ; I had not a cent in the world, 
 and she had only two car fares, and she was 
 expected to go down to the Boston and Maine sta- 
 tion. She hopes to get her expenses for the lecture,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 27 
 
 and she said she should claim enough to bring her 
 here." 
 
 For an instant I thought the lady was vexed. I 
 am sure now she was not in the least. She rested 
 her head upon her hand, leaning her elbow upon 
 the broad arm of the chair. After a moment's 
 reflection she said : " I have an idea, Mr. Temple, 
 and if Mr. Hardy will excuse me a few minutes I 
 will walk down to the gate with you." 
 
 He arose and followed her out of the room with- 
 out so much as a nod at me. He was wholly 
 absorbed in Maria Williams' idea. 
 
 I had said to my fiend, when he saw the amount 
 of fruit and biscuits which had been brought to 
 me : " A civilized man would eat perhaps a third of 
 what is there ; you may have one half." 
 
 When Maria Williams and Mr. Temple left me 
 I hastily ate every biscuit upon the table, and 
 while my self-respect cried, " Shame ! " I finished 
 the last grape. 
 
 Yet no one could look more guiltless of gluttony 
 than I as I hastened, at the sound of wheels upon 
 the gravel drive, to seat myself as far as possible 
 from the table which bore the tray containing the 
 empty plates. 
 
 I glanced out of the window and saw Mrs. 
 Moore leaving the carriage, accompanied by a 
 prim little woman of middle age and a young girl.
 
 28 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 The latter was becomingly dressed and had beau- 
 tiful red-gold hair. 
 
 They came immediately into the library, and 
 after a welcome from Mrs. Moore, which recalled 
 the last time I had visited there with my mother 
 when I was a growing lad, I was presented to the 
 other ladies. Mrs. Hardcreeder, sister of the late 
 Josiah Moore, was the wife of a clergyman; a 
 hard-working, honest man, who received a meagre 
 salary for telling his congregation every Sunday 
 and every Wednesday evening at prayer meeting 
 that all pleasure was sin. It was seldom Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder visited The Poplars since her brother's 
 death ; but regularly Mrs. Moore wrote and invited 
 her, and always added a postscript to the effect 
 that during her visit no obnoxious person should 
 be permitted to darken the doors. 
 
 The word obnoxious was a favorite word of Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder's, and applied to any one who enter- 
 tained any ideas which she did not. As her nat- 
 ural endowment was singularly limited, it was not 
 strange that many of the visitors at The Poplars 
 came under the head of obnoxious. Her small, 
 dark eyes travelled restlessly from my pale face 
 down to my boots; and the worst verdict she 
 could pronounce, I am sure, was the same she had 
 brought against Miss Clara Norton, as they drove 
 together from the city with Mrs. Moore : " worldly 
 and frivolous."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 29 
 
 It was with pleasure that I looked from her hard, 
 little face to the fair face of Clara Norton, who 
 immediately after the introduction took a seat very 
 near me. 
 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder, whose blood was thin, sat by 
 the open fire, for she said towards evening it was 
 still a little chill. At intervals she turned towards 
 her sister-in-law, with a protesting look, but said 
 nothing. 
 
 We were talking of Thurston when suddenly she 
 turned, with her small mouth pursed to such a 
 degree it was a wonder a word could make its 
 escape, and said, " I did not expect to find Maria 
 Williams here: wasn't that Maria Williams I 
 saw standing with that obnoxious person at the 
 gate ? " 
 
 Mrs. Moore smiled, a broad and patient smile. 
 "Yes," she replied, "that was Maria." 
 
 " From your letter, I did not expect to find her 
 here." 
 
 " I don't know why not, as this is her home," 
 said Mrs. Moore, gently. 
 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder became a little pale, and her 
 small features seemed to disappear ; her back grew 
 rigid, and she clutched her black silk as ruthlessly 
 as if it had been one of her cheap gowns. " How 
 do you think Josiah would like to have a a free 
 thinker in his house, finding a home there ! "
 
 30 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 "This is my house," said Mrs. Moore, mildly. 
 
 "Then you have forgotten my poor, dear 
 brother, already ! " 
 
 "I doubt if I ever forget Josiah," said the 
 widow, with a peculiar smile. 
 
 " But you ignore his wishes." 
 
 "What were his wishes? I mean any that I 
 have ignored." 
 
 "You are bound not to understand me, Sara 
 Jackson." Whenever Mrs. Hardcreeder felt that 
 her trials had reached a point beyond endurance, 
 she always addressed her sister-in-law by her 
 maiden name. " You know very well what I 
 mean ! You know as well as I that Josiah Moore 
 hated anything free excepting his country; and 
 now his house is an asylum for any blasphemer, 
 man or woman, who happens to be too lazy to 
 work." 
 
 " After living twenty-five years with a man who 
 hated anything free, are you surprised that I like 
 a little freedom, Susannah ? " 
 
 " Whatever were Josiah's faults, he was a God- 
 fearing man," Mrs. Hardcreeder declared, "and 
 he had no sympathy with blasphemers ! " 
 
 " There is no doubt of that," Mrs. Moore ad- 
 mitted gently, " and Josiah lived his life as he saw 
 fit ; I simply claim the privilege now that he is 
 gone of living as I see fit."
 
 A Fear/ess Investigator. 31 
 
 " But you do like all sorts of people." said Miss 
 Norton, taking a low seat at Mrs. Moore's side, 
 " and you taught me to look for something inter- 
 esting in everybody," and her impulsive soul looked 
 out of her great eyes in admiration at Mrs. Moore. 
 " I try to feel towards people just as you do I 
 admire it, but I can't do it. I detest people with 
 loose screws in their brains. Mrs. Hardcreeder is 
 half right when she calls this an asylum. Mamma 
 pretends I am not well and she gets Mrs. Moore 
 to invite me here and keep a strict eye upon me. 
 Are you sent here to have a strict eye kept upon 
 you, Mr. Hardy?" 
 
 " Yes," I said, seriously ; " I am possessed of a 
 terrible fiend." 
 
 " How interesting ! I always thought it would 
 be delightful to go to a private asylum where all 
 the inmates would be ladies and gentlemen." 
 
 " I thought you detested people with mental 
 screws loose." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Hardy, nothing is so disagreeable in 
 a pleasant chat as having to trot back and see if 
 you have dropped any conversational stitches." 
 
 " But you would like to be consistent," I sug- 
 gested, mildly enough. 
 
 "It makes no difference whether I would like to 
 be or not, I cannot. There are some people who 
 can mould themselves after any pattern they ad-
 
 32 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mire ; I can't. I am just as God made me twenty 
 and one years ago. Hark! There's Thurston ; 
 he never asks anybody to be consistent. How I 
 like that boy!" and she ran to meet him, her 
 cheeks flushed and it seemed to me with a very 
 affectionate light in her large eyes. 
 
 It has been said that no unmarried woman ever 
 looked upon an eligible, unmarried man without 
 dreaming of possibilities. Certainly for a year I 
 had not looked upon a young, unmarried woman 
 without thinking of a wife. We will not say, 
 " dreaming of possibilities," because that seems 
 almost to enter the realm of the ideal, and my 
 thoughts were all practical to the last degree. 
 
 I found myself wondering how Nanny would like 
 Miss Norton, when Thurston entered with her on 
 one arm and Maria Williams on the other. 
 
 " Here you are then, all right ! " he cried as he 
 saw me. " I went for you, and I understood that 
 you would drive out with me and you came out all 
 alone. Hard luck ! How do you feel, old man ? 
 You look better already. Honor bright! Why, 
 there 's aunt Susannah ! Now this is worth coming 
 home to see. Religion and respectability meeting 
 once more under our benighted roof ! " 
 
 Maria Williams had gone directly to Mrs. Hard- 
 creeder, but that indignant lady had hardly deigned 
 to bend her little walnut head in recognition of the
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 33 
 
 courtesy ; but she turned towards her nephew with 
 almost a smile as he came to embrace her. 
 
 " Why, it is a long time since you were here, 
 Aunt Susannah ! Why don't you come oftener ? 
 But I don't see old Protoplasm. The boy at the 
 station said he was here ; I stopped to see if John 
 Mr. Hardy came up all right. You remem- 
 ber your friend, don't you, Auntie, who tried to 
 prove to you that Adam was a monkey ? Well, 
 never mind, how 's Uncle Calvin ? " 
 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder bristled a little, but presently 
 said calmly. " Your uncle is about as usual." 
 
 " I tell you he is too good a man to be getting 
 bronchitis from pounding the dust out of that old 
 pulpit cushion at eight hundred a year. By Jove, 
 I shall never forget the day I met him coming from 
 Cambridge, the day I flunked. I don't know what 
 he said, but I said, 'Oh! go to the devil!' He 
 did n't go, but just walked along with me without 
 saying a word; but there was something in his 
 good old jog that made me feel a little ashamed, 
 but I wouldn't say so. He kept right on beside 
 me, till his car came along ; then he said, ' Thurs- 
 ton, dear boy, I '11 pray for you ! ' " 
 
 " He did," said Mrs. Hardcreeder, a little stiffly. 
 " He even brought it up when he said grace at the 
 table, which I told him I thought was out of place." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," cried Thurston ; " that only 
 3
 
 34 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 shows how honest he is ! And if he gets me in 
 the next time, he shall have the best silk hat in 
 the city of Boston, and a new sermon case that 
 will make every other minister in the town resign." 
 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder thawed out another little 
 smile, which congealed immediately as she thought 
 of sitting in the same room with Maria Williams. 
 
 " The schooner Emma Liz sailed in the gate 
 just ahead of me, Clara," said Thurston, seating 
 himself beside me, " and her face looked like a 
 happy sunset, when I told her that you were here." 
 
 " Emma Lizzie Holt is a very nice, respectable 
 girl," said Mrs. Hardcreeder. 
 
 " Thurston does not mean anything disrespectful, 
 Susannah," returned Mrs. Moore, quickly. 
 
 " Why, no indeed," Thurston exclaimed. " Emma 
 Liz and I have been friends from infancy. 'T was 
 that wicked Clara Norton who taught me to call 
 her the ' Emma Liz,' and when she bears down 
 upon you in one of her stiff-starched calicoes, do 
 you call it ? she does remind you of a schooner 
 under full sail, just as Clara, when she pulls her 
 about, reminds you of a trim little tug. Oh, Clara, 
 do you remember the night we went down to the 
 farmhouse to see old Miss Kimball go into a 
 trance? Come over here and tell Mr. Hardy 
 about it." 
 
 "There are things you cannot describe," said
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 35 
 
 Miss Norton, taking a chair near us ; " but perhaps 
 if Mr. Hardy is very good, and goes to bed early, 
 and gets strong, the Emma Liz will let us all go 
 over some night and see her aunt and old Miss 
 Kimball." 
 
 " I should think it would be much more to your 
 credit if all of you young people joined and helped 
 Emma Lizzie, than to set yourselves against her," 
 said Mrs. Hardcreeder, sharply. 
 
 " I beg of you don't count me in any conspiracy, 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder," I said politely ; " I don't dven 
 know what they are talking about." 
 
 " I saw Emma Lizzie a short time ago " Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder was apparently addressing herself to 
 some invisible personage who stood in the middle 
 of the room " and she was very much shocked 
 that her aunt should be influenced by such low peo- 
 ple and have them in the house. Now I say it 
 would be much more to your credit to help Emma 
 Lizzie turn these people out of doors than to plan 
 to go to see them. The devil never goes straight 
 through a field for a soul, but round about, criss- 
 cross, any way so he may not be seen ; and those 
 people who think themselves secure because they 
 are a little superior to Mrs. Holt, may be caught 
 themselves. You don't use the same hook to catch 
 a cod and a trout ; but everything is fish that falls 
 into the devil's net, and as old Deacon Potter
 
 36 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 used to say, ' Though the devil uses genteeler lines 
 for some of you than others, he will cook all in the 
 same pot at last.' That may not be quite so ele- 
 gant as it is true. Deacon Potter always spoke 
 strong." 
 
 " You can preach almost as well as Uncle Cal- 
 vin," said Thurston; "but honestly now, Aunt 
 Susannah, do you believe the devil ever baits his 
 hook with anything so harmless as a ' settin ' at 
 the farmhouse, with poor old Miss Kimball for 
 the ' mejum ' ? " 
 
 " The Bible says, Thou shalt go to him, but 
 he shall not return to thee,' " said his aunt, 
 solemnly. 
 
 " Yes ; but Consolation Temple says that a great 
 many people who have died come back and have 
 to come back to be improved. They come and 
 hang round good people like you and Maria Wil- 
 liams," said Thurston. 
 
 After several attempts to speak, so great was 
 her displeasure at hearing her name coupled with 
 that of Maria Williams, Mrs. Hardcreeder simply 
 murmured " Blasphemy ! " 
 
 " Not at all," declared Thurston. " You are 
 prejudiced, Auntie. Only think how much a vain 
 ghost could improve by hanging round you ; or 
 take a dreadfully profane fellow and let him come 
 back and stay with Uncle Calvin awhile, and he
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 37 
 
 would forget how to say anything stronger than 
 Moses ! " 
 
 "The subject is obnoxious," said Mrs. Hard- 
 creeder. 
 
 " A hint is enough," said Thurston, and he 
 began talking of his aunt's affairs. Miss Norton 
 and I were left to enjoy a little tete-a-tete, and 
 Mrs. Moore and Maria Williams went to sewing 
 for a fair. 
 
 I found Miss Norton most excellent company, 
 quite unlike any young lady I had ever met; 
 formed by nature for a most perfect coquette, and 
 then endowed with so much sincerity that she 
 could make nothing of her opportunities. I hoped 
 she would stay long enough for me to make a 
 study of her. 
 
 In the evening Mrs. Hardcreeder said she would 
 just step over to the farmhouse a few minutes to 
 see Mrs. Holt, for she had promised that lady's 
 sister, who went to Mr. Hardcreeder's church, that 
 she would take a word from her to Mrs. Holt, to 
 the effect that if she did n't cut all mediums, and 
 all investigators of the devil, she would cut her for- 
 ever, although she was her sister ten times over. 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder appeared very anxious to deliver 
 this message, and hardly had she left the house 
 when I heard voices at the door, and immediately 
 Thurston left the room, his good-natured face
 
 3 8 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 alive with merriment ; and when he came back he 
 brought with him Emmanuel Temple, and his 
 wife. 
 
 " We shall have some fun," whispered Miss 
 Norton, as they entered the room. 
 
 When Consolation Temple sat down near me, I 
 felt a slight chill in my back. She was a hand- 
 some woman, if one did not look at her too long. 
 The first glance gave a tall, graceful figure with a 
 well-shaped head, dark hair and perfect eyebrows ; 
 a pallor which seemed to come from feeding upon 
 indigestible ideas rather than innutritious food. 
 The mouth was large, but the lips thin, and with a 
 cold, bloodless look, that gave one the idea that a 
 smile was no part of them, but was artificial and 
 could be put on or taken off with no regard to any 
 inner feeling. Her large eyes she seldom opened 
 to their full extent. She did not look up at the 
 person with whom she spoke, but raising her sight 
 above his head her glance slowly descended, and I 
 noticed as she covered me with a look that she 
 possessed the power of dilating and contracting 
 the pupil of her eye at will. I also felt that some- 
 where, hid within, she carried that which answered 
 to the rattles of the snake, which I felt would sound 
 the alarm when she came to strike. 
 
 "Maria Williams sent us to the farmhouse," 
 said Emmanuel Temple, " and Mrs. Holt was just
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 39 
 
 putting the babies to bed, when Maria came over 
 and said Mrs. Hardcreeder was going to descend 
 upon the farmhouse, and we had better spend the 
 evening here. Prejudice complicates human affairs 
 in a strange way, and 
 
 " 'Manuel, my love," said Consolation, without 
 drawing her gaze from me. 
 
 " I 'm not going to say anything; ask Maria 
 Williams if I am," said Emmanuel. 
 
 Maria Williams smiled amiably and asked Con- 
 solation if she had enjoyed her lecture. 
 
 I drew a deep breath as Consolation slowly 
 withdrew her gaze from my face, and let it fall upon 
 Maria Williams. 
 
 " O, yes," replied Consolation ; " but all these 
 little societies are so apt to fall into ruts, and then 
 run on in them. Now a year ago, when I was 
 there I found many of the society diffident about 
 speaking before the meeting. I suggested that 
 they start a debate, and force every lady there to 
 take part. They have been debating ever since ; 
 and the subject of the last meeting was, 4 Whether 
 a short person has any moral right to carry a 
 spread umbrella in a crowd ? ' ' 
 
 " That opens a good field for debate, now I tell 
 you," said Thurston. " I don't see how you could 
 have found fault with that." 
 
 She put back her head a little and lowered her
 
 40 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 long lashes just a trifle ; I soon observed it was 
 the only way she showed anger. Then she said in 
 her low, unnatural voice, " It seems to me as if 
 there were some vital questions pressing upon the 
 heart of woman that demand answers." 
 
 " And do you think there are no vital questions 
 pressing upon the heart of man?" demanded 
 Thurston, rapping his sturdy chest. 
 
 " Man is at liberty to settle any questions he 
 pleases," she returned. 
 
 " O, is he ? " said Thurston. " I 'm glad to hear 
 it, because I always count you as good authority. 
 But I tell you, you make a great mistake, you old 
 girls, when you talk about the vital questions of 
 woman. You settle the vital questions of man, 
 and the vital questions are settled. Suppose you 
 consider to-night the vital questions of John Hardy, 
 and Thurston Moore. Mr. Hardy comes to us 
 totally without prejudice, Mrs. Temple, but igno- 
 rant of many things that the world above has to 
 tell him ; will you allow yourself to to be instru- 
 mental in convincing him that Webster ' still 
 lives' and will you tell him why he had that 
 fever ? " 
 
 " No, Thurston," said Mrs. Moore, " Consolation 
 has given up sitting ; it really injures her, and you 
 only wish to be amused." 
 
 " It is all for John," cried Thurston, " I want
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 41 
 
 him to see that there is something more than tip- 
 ping tables, and spelling out your grandmother's 
 name. I want Consolation to give us a poem." 
 
 " I found the mixed influence of common gather- 
 ings so conflicting," said Consolation, dropping her 
 eyes again upon me, " that I was forced to forbid 
 myself the temptation of yielding to it. But here 
 the spirit atmosphere is elevated, if not satisfied." 
 
 " Good," said Thurston. " Now mother, if you 
 hear Aunt Susannah coming, you just trot her into 
 some other room. I told John that he should 
 see and hear everything, if he would come to The 
 Poplars ; and if Consolation feels a poem apiece 
 being thrust into her mind for us, why we are ready 
 to receive." 
 
 " Only don't tell anybody's secrets," said Miss 
 Norton, a little nervously. 
 
 " Mrs. Temple is welcome to any of mine," I 
 declared boldly, with a chill again at my back 
 when this curious woman's eyes fell once more 
 upon me. 
 
 " I don't think it is any more polite for a ghost to 
 be personal, than it is for us," said Miss Norton. 
 
 Consolation adjusted her thin smile : " With 
 spirit there is no disguise," she said, sweetly. 
 
 " It is all mind working on mind, any way," 
 said Emmanuel, " nothing else, nothing more. 
 Consolation takes a thought out of my unconscious
 
 42 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mind, and then offers it to me as my grandmother, 
 or cousin, or possibly Mary Bullam, a girl I was 
 going to marry, only she died. As my thought, or 
 somebody else's thought, of these people is all that 
 is left of them, however you may work up that 
 thought it can't hurt them, and gives them all the 
 immortality they will ever enjoy." 
 
 His drawling, monotonous tone seemed to have 
 a soothing effect upon his wife. She had folded 
 her thin, white hands in her lap and raised her eyes 
 to the ceiling. For a few minutes there was per- 
 fect silence in the room.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "II 7 HEN Emmanuel Temple said that his wife 
 ' * went to his unconscious mind and ruth- 
 lessly dragged out a thought and gave it a ghostly 
 personality, I began to wish that I had left my 
 unconscious mind in Boston with Nanny. If 
 Consolation would only enter my conscious 
 mind, I felt that I could be on my guard; but I 
 found even that not an easy thing to do, and with 
 a fear that the entranced Pythoness might at that 
 very moment be engaged among the subterranean 
 recesses of my being, I tried to banish every idea 
 I ever had and make my mind, as she travelled 
 through it, appear to her like a house after the 
 tenant has left. I even tried to put a mental " to 
 let" upon my forehead. But all in vain. One 
 image was ever before me, the face and the form 
 of Jeannette Carlton, the girl I had loved, but 
 abandoned. 
 
 Emmanuel Temple had withdrawn from the little 
 half-circle we had unconsciously formed around 
 his wife, and, much to my astonishment, had thrown 
 himself upon the lounge at the other end of the
 
 44 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 room. But this Bohemian impertinence did not 
 seem to attract much attention from the others. I 
 saw him adjust the silken cushions for his sooty 
 looking head and put up his heavy feet, aiming 
 his toes at the same place in the ceiling where his 
 wife's great eyes were turned for inspiration ; and 
 while her bosom gently rose and fell with the in- 
 flowing tide from unseen spheres, his answered to 
 an influence quite as powerful, if more common- 
 place. Old Protoplasm slept. 
 
 After a moment Consolation lowered her eyes 
 and then closed them for perhaps three minutes. 
 Then suddenly they opened wider than was quite 
 natural ; but I felt convinced that she saw nothing, 
 for she said distinctly, looking apparently at my 
 thin legs, " O man of flesh ! The world of spirit is 
 ever whispering in thine ear ; but the deaf hear 
 not the sea. O man of flesh, open thine inner 
 eyes 1 Learn while thou art here, that thou mayst 
 not be obliged to return like the pupil who idles in 
 the first school, and, after entering the second, 
 must return to study that which he ignored in the 
 first. Turn not a deaf ear to the warnings of 
 those who may help thee." 
 
 After a moment she turned slowly towards Miss 
 Norton, and her voice changed from a tone of 
 philosophic mildness to that of passionate sad- 
 ness: "We see thee holding in thy hand a white
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 45 
 
 dove with crimson drops upon its breast, em- 
 blems of love and murder." 
 
 The young lady gave a little shudder, and said, 
 " Really, I think this spirit needs to come back and 
 learn to say more agreeable things to innocent 
 people." She laughed; but I saw that she felt a 
 little nervous, and I was indignant that she should 
 be so superstitious. I started to take a seat be- 
 side her ; but Thurston seemed to think, or pre- 
 tend, that I might disturb the harmony, and I 
 remained where I was. 
 
 At the same moment Consolation turned to me 
 and said, " There is a spirit present who wishes to 
 improvise a few lines to you, John Hardy." And 
 with a voice worthy of a tragedy queen, she recited 
 the following lines, which I learned afterward was 
 a tribute from the ghost of Adah Isaacs Menken. 
 
 " He took 
 
 Her love as if it were a thing of earth, 
 And beat and trampled it beneath his feet ; 
 And when it rose again and crept within 
 His reach, again he struck it down with firm, 
 Well-planted blows, and deemed it dead. 
 
 The years 
 
 Go by, and no one knows his crime ; the stain, 
 The crimson stain is only on his soul. 
 But when he comes to die, a phantom pale 
 Shall creep beside his couch, and when his spirit, 
 Heavy from the sins of earth, shall try to rise, 
 This phantom white shall lend its wings, and say, 
 ' Unworthy objects live, and die, but love 
 Shall last forever.' "
 
 46 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Every man will find out sooner or later that he 
 is superstitious. As Consolation ceased, I was 
 standing once more at the little garden gate of the 
 Carlton farm house. The moon had bathed the 
 scene in her seductive, silver light, that light 
 which can change the humblest garden gate into an 
 entrance into Paradise. Again I saw it all. Again 
 I caught the rich perfume of the laden rose-trees 
 that grew each side the gate. Again I felt the pres- 
 sure of Jeannette Carlton's cold little fingers on the 
 strong hand which was waiting to thrust her aside. 
 Again the white rays of the moon, that looks so 
 coldly on the pain she helps to cause, fell on Jean- 
 nette's upturned face, white with the struggle be- 
 tween her love and pride; then, with a moan so 
 low I scarcely heard it, yet so strong that it will 
 cease only with my memory, she bent her head 
 and touched my hand with her cold lips and turned 
 away. That was the scene that came and would 
 not go; and I felt my lips grow stiff and white 
 with the pain it caused. 
 
 Miss Norton had raised her head, and was look- 
 ing at me with a curious and pitiful look. But 
 Consolation had moved toward Thurston, and in 
 the voice of an ill-bred child, said, "You find 
 your gold button ? Me hide it. Me hide the old 
 squaw's thimble. Me not like old squaw, ough ! 
 Bad old squaw ! "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 47 
 
 " She means you, mother," said Thurston. 
 
 " No, no," said Consolation, quickly, " she good 
 squaw. Me say other old squaw, she go to other 
 wigwam to-night." 
 
 " You must not speak like that of Aunt Susannah," 
 said Thurston. " But 1 found my button ; did you 
 know it? You can't hide it so I can't find it." 
 
 " That bad Myrtle tell you where find it," said 
 Consolation, archly. 
 
 Then Thurston explained that The Poplars had 
 been haunted for a long time by two little Indian 
 maidens named Myrtle and Thistle. The first was a 
 legacy left by an Ohio medium they had liked very 
 much, and the latter by a New York medium, who 
 had come expecting to stay all winter at The Pop- 
 lars and was only invited for a week. If they lost 
 anything, they always appealed to Myrtle to find 
 it; and if, after searching according to her direc- 
 tions, they were unsuccessful, they knew that the 
 wicked Thistle was the cause. 
 
 After this explanation Consolation turned to me 
 and said, " Me know you, big sick brave. You 
 think you strong ; you go down easy ; you no legs. 
 You too proud. Why you proud ? You no legs 
 and you no wampum." 
 
 I found this very embarrassing and asked if 
 there was any way this spirit could be turned off 
 and Adah Isaacs turned on again.
 
 48 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Then Thistle caused Consolation to say, " You 
 no like me. I no like you. I hide all your gold 
 buttons, so Myrtle no find one thing." 
 
 I will not relate all the foolish talk of this Indian 
 maiden. After she had gone, a very remarkable 
 ghost, who refused to give any name, took posses- 
 sion of Consolation and talked a long time about 
 atmospheres. It informed us that every person 
 has four atmospheres : the physical, the mental, 
 the moral, and the spiritual. That each of these 
 atmospheres is made up of particles either concave 
 or convex in form. That a perfect affinity is 
 when all the particles composing the four atmos- 
 pheres of one being perfectly adjust themselves 
 to the corresponding particles of the four atmos- 
 pheres of another. 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed this spirit, pathetically, " when 
 you think that the atmosphere of every soul is 
 composed of myriad particles, either concave or 
 convex, and each concave particle of each 
 atmosphere is a complement of a convex particle 
 in the atmosphere of another, is it a marvel in 
 the crude state of human affairs, that the spirit 
 world groans over the vast numbers of imperfect 
 affinities ? " 
 
 I thought, if I had understood it, that the upper 
 world was excusable if it howled aloud and even 
 gnashed its teeth; and I said so.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 49 
 
 Whereupon Consolation moaned sadly, " O 
 scoffer, live and suffer, and learn by anguish that 
 which we would teach without pain ! " 
 
 Miss Norton said she was sorry I had spoken 
 as I did, because the spirits were very sensitive, 
 and she would really have liked to know what 
 the four atmospheres meant; but now probably 
 this particular ghost had gone off indignant. 
 
 I was just getting ready to apologize when Con- 
 solation gave a little sigh, shrugged her shoulders, 
 and then gave us all a sweet smile. Her first 
 conscious act was to glide to the lounge and take 
 the philosophic Emmanuel by the ear. I am sure 
 she was a woman I should most have enjoyed 
 entranced. 
 
 He opened his eyes and looked as good-natured 
 as a satyr awakened by a wood-nymph ; and al- 
 though Consolation assumed the playfulness of 
 one, I am sure that it was no gentle touch that 
 brought her lord and master back so suddenly to 
 the world of realities. 
 
 Later in the evening, as we sat in my room, I 
 asked Thurston about this, and he laughed and 
 said probably the pinch she gave him would have 
 brought the blood if it had been my ear. We 
 talked a long time about the Temples and many 
 other things, when suddenly he said, " What did 
 you think of that dove business ? " 
 4
 
 jo A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " I did n't think anything about it," I said, " that 
 is the mystic way mediums have of talking. I 
 suppose I see now how they can get a sort of 
 power over a weak person." 
 
 He sat a few minutes, slowly turning a fine old 
 ring which he wore upon his little finger. Then, 
 looking suddenly into my face, he said, "John, do 
 I appear to you like a man, or a boy ? " 
 
 " Like a very manly boy," I answered. His 
 face became like a flame, but he never took his 
 strong, dark eyes from my face. 
 
 " You are a man, John, and I want to ask your 
 advice about something. You may call me a boy, 
 or a man, or whatever you like, only help me." 
 After waiting a moment he continued in his 
 straightforward way, "It is a long story; there, 
 just sit round so ; I can't tell it if you look right 
 at me, but when we come to the end I don't mean 
 to flinch. 
 
 " Let me see ; it began three years ago ; I was 
 at the English High School, and as I was 
 going home one day a good-looking fellow, well- 
 dressed, and quite a swell, I thought, came up and 
 asked me if I knew a young man named Thurston 
 Moore, who went to the English High. I wanted 
 a little fun, and I said, 'Thurston Moore? Oh, 
 yes, I have heard of him ; he was that good boy 
 who took all the prizes and yet was beloved. He
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 51 
 
 died last month. The boys have just taken the 
 crape off their arms, but I shall visit his grave 
 soon ; would you like to send any floral design 
 by me ? ' 
 
 " He laughed and said, ' If he is dead, I have 
 no interest in his grave.' 
 
 " ' Oh, he was so good,' I said, ' he would leave 
 his grave to do a man a favor.' ' I don't like to 
 assume quite so much as that with an entire 
 stranger,' said he, and began to laugh ; then stop- 
 ping himself all of a sudden, he went on, ' The 
 reason I pretended not to know you, was because I 
 wanted to see what sort of a man you were, before 
 you found out that I knew you. Was it unfair ? ' 
 
 " I was sixteen years old when he called me a 
 man ; now I am nineteen, and you call me a boy. 
 Never mind, he wanted me to be a man, because I 
 could do better for him if I were a man ; and I 
 see why you would rather believe me a boy." 
 
 " Why, my dear fellow ! " I cried in astonish- 
 ment, " boy or man, what difference can a few 
 years make to me ? " 
 
 " You would rather Clara Norton would think 
 me a boy," he spoke in a low tone. 
 
 " I don't understand you," I said, truly per- 
 plexed. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but I want to tell you about this 
 fellow now, and let you see the whole thing for
 
 52 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 yourself. He often met me and went about with 
 me a good deal. His name was Robert Ryan. 
 One day he took me rowing on the Charles river, 
 and I found out his great interest in me. He was 
 in love with Clara Norton and was not allowed to 
 visit there : he knew I was very intimate with the 
 family and he wanted to tell me his history. I 
 remember I took it very coolly when he said he 
 was in love with Clara ; I laughed and said, ' She is 
 a nice girl, why don't you go for her?' Then he 
 rowed for a long time without a word, when he 
 drew in his oars suddenly, and said, ' Thurston, I 
 mean to tell you everything, and then, if you can, 
 you will help me.' Now I just want you to listen 
 to this for romance, John Hardy. I can't give it in 
 Robert's words, you know, but I remember it all. 
 He was born down at the North End ; his father 
 was an Irishman and his mother an Italian. In 
 the very same house, at the very same time that 
 he was born, there was born a little girl. There 
 was an old woman in the house who told 
 him that that he and this little girl cried at the 
 same minute, and there would always be but one 
 heart between them ; and he always believed it was 
 so. When they began to walk they always went 
 taking hold of hands. Don't you laugh, John, till 
 you hear the whole of it. The old woman used to 
 say, ' If you see Robin, thin Nora 's not far away.'
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 53 
 
 They were both infernally poor, and when they were 
 six years old, Nora's father died, leaving more 
 children than dollars. One day when they were 
 out to play in the dirt his mother came out and 
 said, ' What will you do when Nora goes away to 
 be a lady, Robin ? ' 'I will go too,' he said, and 
 while they were talking, Nora's mother came out of 
 the house crying and took the little girl in doors. 
 Robin tried to follow, but they threw him a copper 
 and told him to go buy Nora a bun, a bun with 
 sugar on it ; and they shut him out. A bun with 
 sugar on it meant a good long walk, but he wanted 
 Nora to have it, and off he went. When he came 
 back there was a carriage standing before the door, 
 and they were bringing out little Nora all dressed 
 in new clothes. ' Here 's the bun ! ' he screamed. 
 ' You can eat it in the carriage,' for the poor little 
 chap thought she was going only for a ride with 
 some rich lady. She kissed him and said the lady 
 promised she could come back and play with him 
 when she liked. But the old woman cried, ' Ye '11 
 niver see your swateheart agin, mind that ! 
 There 's only one heart between yez, mind that ! ' 
 When the carriage turned the corner he heard the 
 loud cries of Nora's mother and he knew that little 
 Nora was gone forever. 
 
 " I can't tell it the way he told it," said Thurston 
 abruptly. " Why, man, before he got to that carry-
 
 54 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 ing off I was knocking my knuckles on the row- 
 locks to keep half my mind off, so I should not let 
 him see me cry like a baby. Well, sir, he 
 followed that carriage on the dead run ; he dodged 
 horse cars, and just escaped being knocked down 
 by express wagons; but on he ran, poor little 
 shaver ! First he lost his hat in the mud, then one 
 old shoe ; but he kept the carriage in sight for a 
 long time. Then it was blocked for a while, just 
 long enough for him to reach it and take a good 
 hold, which he kept, by Jove, until it reached a very 
 respectable looking house indeed. When they 
 took Nora into the front door he got his breath 
 for a minute and screamed her name. He even 
 tried to run up the high steps, but his strength was 
 gone and he fell. A lady came out and told him 
 he must get into the carriage, and the driver would 
 take him home. She told him as kindly as she 
 could that he must not see Nora any more, that 
 she had gone to another home where she would 
 have everything that was beautiful. ' Buns with 
 sugar on them every day ? ' he asked. Yes, she 
 told him, and she was to have a new mother, and a 
 new father ; and she could not see the old people 
 at the other end of the city any more, and if they 
 kept coming and making trouble, little Nora would 
 have to go back and be poor and ragged forever. So 
 he went back to his dirty home and tried to think
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 55 
 
 all the time that Nora was eating always buns with 
 sugar on them. Nearly every day he crossed the 
 city and found her house, and sometimes he saw 
 her dressed like a little princess, and he ran and 
 hid if she came out, or showed her face at the 
 window ; for he remembered if anybody from his 
 end of the city kept coming and making trouble, 
 poor little Nora would have to go back again and 
 be poor and ragged forever ; and so it went on until 
 he was ten years old, and his mother died. His 
 father had been drinking a good deal, because his 
 wife was sick, he said. Now he drank harder than 
 ever because she was dead ; and Robin was having 
 a pretty hard time when it occurred to him one day 
 that perhaps he could have a new father. He 
 went very early one morning to Nora's new home 
 and watched until he saw her father come out. 
 He was glad when he saw he was alone. He fol- 
 lowed close upon his heels until they entered the 
 Public Garden, when the gentleman turned and 
 said, 'What do you want?' He did not realize 
 that Nora's father did not know him, and he said, 
 ' My father beats me, I want a new father ; my 
 mother is dead. Nora is happier than I am.' 
 'Who is Nora?' said the gentleman, laughing. 
 ' Why, my Nora,' said Robin, ' the little girl you took 
 away from my house.' ' O, yes; and what do you 
 want?' ' I should like a new father,' said Robin.
 
 5 6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 "The gentleman laughed and said, ' If I hear of 
 one I will let you know.' When he went home he 
 told them the story at dinner, and they all laughed 
 all but Nora. She set to work to find a new father 
 for her little sweetheart, and a year after he was 
 adopted by a friend of Nora's adopted father, a 
 man who lived in New York. The result was that 
 Robin was educated. Now here is the queerest 
 part of all. He had never seen Nora to speak to 
 her from the day he chased the carriage until he 
 met her as Clara Norton, when she was eighteen 
 years old. What do you suppose he did ? He 
 made love to her right under the nose of her 
 adopted mother, who declared it would kill her if 
 her daughter did not marry a gentleman. At the 
 same time Robert's adopted father said he had not 
 made a gentleman of Robert to see him throw him- 
 self away on a paddy. 
 
 " This naturally caused a rupture between the 
 families, and when Robert met me first he had 
 been forbidden to visit Mr. Norton's house. Poor 
 fellow! I pity him now, even when I wish he were 
 dead, shot, strangled, anything so I might never 
 see him again ! " 
 
 Thurston paused, and I laid my hand on his 
 shoulder. " What ? " he said, as if it had been a 
 question. 
 
 " Let 's have it all," I returned.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 57 
 
 " I carried notes and messages back and forth 
 for a long time," he continued, " when suddenly I 
 felt as if I did n't want to carry any more. It was 
 in the summer, and mother and I were at the same 
 hotel with the Nortons. One day, when I came 
 back from the city, Clara asked me when I saw 
 Robert last ? 
 
 "'Hang Robert! 'said I. 
 
 " She looked around quickly, then caught my 
 great, ugly hand and kissed it. ' Never think we 
 are ungrateful, Thurston, never think that,' she 
 whispered. 
 
 " ' Hang gratitude ! ' said I. 
 
 " Then she laughed and said, ' If you should 
 hang Robert and gratitude, what would there be 
 left to live for? ' 
 
 " ' Well,' I said, ' you have got to get another 
 dog.' 
 
 " ' What do you mean ? ' she asked, surprised. 
 ' Don't speak like that to me, Thurston.' 
 
 " ' You get another dog all the same, Clara Nor- 
 ton,' said I. ' When you think you have a trusty 
 beast, and he robs the basket he is sent to carry, 
 you 'd better get a new dog, that 's all,' and I 
 handed her the last letter she had sent by me to 
 Robert. John, I had broken the seal, and wher- 
 ever, through the four pages, the name of Robert 
 had been written, I had erased it, and in its place 
 had written my own ! "
 
 58 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Poor Thurston! His voice seemed hushed al- 
 most to silence from the weight of his shame. 
 Yet the strength of his own honest, condemning 
 conscience gave him the power to utter every word 
 with a painful distinctness. I think I had never 
 felt true pity for a man before. 
 
 My curiosity in the story was overcome entirely 
 by my sympathy for the bey. In vain I argued 
 with myself that he had done a very mean thing 
 and deserved to suffer, the pain in his great, 
 manly face aroused only sympathy. Was the in- 
 fluence of The Poplars already making me see 
 things in a distorted way ? 
 
 I said nothing, and after a pause he took up his 
 story in a firm voice : 
 
 " I don't believe there is another girl in the 
 world who would have done as Clara did. 
 
 " ' You know,' she said, ' that sometimes you 
 leave the letters at the hotel, or I should never 
 have given you one sealed. I will never seal one 
 again. You must keep it until you meet Robert. 
 Never think of this again, never, never. There 
 can be no temptation, because you may read every 
 word of mine always, and I am sure Robert feels 
 the same. Have we not both told you that we 
 love each other for always ? What can we write 
 more than that, and who but you should know it ? 
 Are you not our only friend? I have promised
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 59 
 
 mother that I will not see him. I will keep my 
 promise. It is only while he is in Boston that I 
 can write, or hear from him. Do not think you 
 have done an unpardonable thing. Many a boy 
 might have done the same without thinking it 
 enough to confess. Only keep my friend, Thurs- 
 ton ! ' And I will keep her friend ! We have 
 never spoken of it since. But what shall I do, 
 John ? What shall I do ? " 
 
 He said this so gently, so helplessly, I felt a 
 little impatient with him. 
 
 " Suppose," I said roughly, " that you had a 
 miserable little wound which you imagined almost 
 a mortal affair, and you went to the surgeon, and 
 he should say, ' A little caustic is what you need,' 
 you would not hesitate to let him apply it ?" 
 
 He put his hand almost affectionately upon my 
 knee, and when I looked into his mild, black eyes 
 I could not help thinking of a big mastiff I had 
 once owned, that caught a fishhook in his jaw. I 
 tried with clumsy, unskilled hands to take it out, 
 adding to his pain ; but he looked up with only 
 confidence in my superior judgment. 
 
 " Imagine me the surgeon," I said, in a matter 
 of fact tone. " Your wound, sir, is slight. Still 
 you have paid so much attention to it that you 
 imagine it serious, and I will apply the caustic. 
 Your youth is greatly in your favor ; that alone
 
 60 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 could pull you through without your common- 
 sense." 
 
 He smiled. " Do you think she knows the state 
 of affairs that you imagine ? " 
 
 " Do you mean does she know that I love her ? " 
 he asked, frankly. " Why, what can she think ? 
 But I don't know. I wish I did." 
 
 " I will tell you. She does not know." 
 " Are you sure ? How could you know ? " 
 " I know in this way : she is not a coquette. 
 Consequently, when she is absent from the man 
 she cares for, she has no desire to subject others. 
 She never intended to make a victim of you ; I 
 know that because she takes no advantage of you 
 whatever. It is woman's province to take advan- 
 tage of any man's weakness, when she knows it" 
 
 " I suppose you know women pretty well," he 
 said, with a sigh. 
 
 " I know men pretty well," I returned ; " and I 
 never yet saw one floored by a dart from Cupid 
 that another shot from the same bow would not 
 cure." 
 
 " You mean that, you honestly mean that ! " 
 I felt a trifle uncomfortable, for he closed his 
 strong fingers on my knee and looked straight into 
 my eyes, and I could not help thinking of Jeannette ; 
 but recalled the virtues of caustic and said, "Yes, 
 I believe it."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 61 
 
 He withdrew his hand suddenly, saying, " Shall 
 you fall in love with her ? " 
 
 " With whom, Miss Norton ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " No, I don't think I shall. 1 certainly will not 
 if you object." 
 
 " Don't be sarcastic. I have no right to object, 
 and I will tell you that while Mrs. Norton lives, 
 Clara can never marry Robert ; and while Robert's 
 adopted father lives, Robert cannot marry Clara. 
 They would never be ungrateful, either of them." 
 
 " It seems to me they are paying pretty dearly 
 for their civilization ; but my interest is not in them 
 just now, but in you. You believe in caustic ; if 
 you had a sister, I should send you to her; not 
 having a sister, I send you to your mother. 
 Go to her and tell her just what you have told 
 me." 
 
 " I can't do that she would blame Clara." 
 
 " She is too just ; how could she ? " 
 
 " She would be just if it happened to anybody 
 but me. I know my own mother ; she would 
 blame Clara." 
 
 "Nevermind if she did, it would come out all 
 right in the end." 
 
 " I won't have Clara blamed." 
 
 " Then if you are bound to go on without any 
 outside aid, just keep your mind so full of other
 
 62 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 impressions that this fancy will fade out for the 
 want of a place to dwell." 
 
 " Do you call it a fancy ? " 
 
 "Yes, but a fancy well fed becomes a passion. 
 You are the master of the fancy, you are the slave 
 of the passion ; and a man of nineteen should be a 
 slave to nothing." 
 
 " Do you think I ought to tell Robert ? " 
 
 " No, but you might tell Miss Norton. I am 
 not sure that would not be a good idea. She 
 might laugh at you ; that would be the most effect- 
 ual thing in the world." 
 
 He flushed angrily; but when I said, " It is only 
 the caustic, my boy," he smiled again. 
 
 " Lay it on, if you think it will do any good. I 
 know I am a fool without brains enough to keep 
 my folly to myself ; but, John, sometimes it seems 
 as if all I would ask would be to have everybody 
 forsake her and she have to go back to the 
 dirty old house at the North End. I would go 
 there, find her and she would belong to me ! " 
 
 " Where would Robert Ryan be all that time ? " 
 I whispered. 
 
 He sat perfectly quiet and the shadows deepened 
 in his face. I imagined there were tears in his 
 eyes, but I would not make myself sure. 
 
 Soon there was a knock, and we heard Maria 
 Williams' voice at the door : " I have orders to
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 63 
 
 stop all talking in this room, and if there is a small 
 boy named Thurston here, to take him away so 
 Mr. Hardy can go to sleep." 
 
 " Now would n't you think I was an infant ? " 
 demanded Thurston. " That is the way I am 
 treated. But it was selfish in me to keep you talk- 
 ing ; you look tired, and you came here to get 
 strong, not to be worried." 
 
 He arose, but did not appear in haste to go. He 
 examined the table near the bed, where Mrs. Moore, 
 with her own motherly hand, had placed wine and 
 beef tea to pacify the fiend if he came to me in the 
 night, at the same time saying, " I know I must 
 not keep you up ; beside, there is poor Maria wait- 
 ing to put me to bed, I suppose." He opened the 
 door ; but instead of saying good-night, he cried, 
 " Hello, Mr. St. Claire, you here ? Come in a 
 moment, I want you to meet Mr. Hardy. When 
 did you come back ? " 
 
 " I am just returned," answered a pleasant voice, 
 and the next instant an old gentleman followed 
 Thurston into the room. 
 
 He appeared very glad to meet me, and hoped 
 my visit would do me more than material good. 
 He talked pleasantly for a time about the beauties 
 of The Poplars, and the generosity of its mistress. 
 Suddenly he turned toward Thurston and said, 
 " This is the young man of whom you spoke this
 
 64 A Fearless Investigator. . 
 
 morning, I presume, a young man without preju- 
 dice. He is feeble now ; but he does not lack 
 nerve, Thurston, he does not lack nerve ! I have 
 not yet overcome my prejudice against Emmanuel 
 Temple; but I must admit that, such is his influ- 
 ence, when he is in the house I am forced to part 
 with a gold piece. Oblige me by taking this, sir," 
 and he drew a gold piece from his pocket, which he 
 held towards me. 
 
 " I know no reason why I should take it," I 
 said, a little embarrassed, believing I was talking to 
 a lunatic. 
 
 " Mrs. Moore will take it in the morning and 
 return it to me. It will not benefit you to receive 
 it, but it may help me to give it away." 
 
 I saw Thurston watching me with suppressed 
 laughter in his eyes, and I determined to keep 
 cool. 
 
 " Certainly, sir, I will take it, and do with it as 
 you request." As I dropped it into my pocket, I 
 thought his face grew dark for a moment. 
 
 " Queer, is n't it," he said, turning to Thurston, 
 "that Emmanuel Temple has no love of gold? 
 He would give his last piece to anybody who 
 wanted it. I cannot help looking down upon him, 
 and yet I cannot give up, after all these years, a 
 bit of gold without a pang. What is your curse, 
 Mr. Hardy? Beg your pardon," as he saw my
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 65 
 
 astonishment. " Perhaps I have alarmed you. 
 Mrs. Moore told me you were in bed or ought to 
 be. Thurston, Mr. Hardy ought to retire," and 
 with a gentle flourish of his hand he arose, put his 
 arm in Thurston's, and they bade me good night. 
 
 I believe my last conscious thought was that 
 Thurston was keeping his promise royally, that he 
 would show me some queer people if I would come 
 to The Poplars, and I did not intend that he should 
 have the satisfaction of seeing me surprised, what- 
 ever happened.
 
 :-: : - - - . 
 
 : :-..- i 
 
 la 
 
 :.:, 
 
 ': -:: : 
 
 : . -. - : 
 
 7- : 
 
 : - T : t -L . 
 
 
 !:-_.: V..1- --,.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 67 
 
 Upon going down I found that Thurston had 
 gone to town, and would not be back until after- 
 noon. Mrs. Moore took me to the dining-room, 
 where Mrs. Hardcreeder still sat. " There is 
 some excuse for you, Mr. Hardy," said that severe 
 little lady, as I was placed opposite her at the 
 table, " but for me there is none. Think of the 
 time of day, and I have just finished breakfast ; I 
 don't know why Sarah did not call me." 
 
 " It seems to me that the person who would de- 
 liberately waken any one, who had not a train to 
 catch, or some immediate duty to perform, could, 
 in the course of time, commit any crime that sel- 
 fishness could conceive," said Mrs. Moore with a 
 smile. 
 
 " Should we allow the indolent to waste all 
 the hours they please in sleep ? " asked Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder. 
 
 " I don't believe we can judge who are the indo- 
 lent," Mrs. Moore returned gently. 
 
 " If everybody was like you," Mrs. Hardcreeder 
 exclaimed, " the world and all its institutions 
 would crumble crumble to dust." 
 
 " But everybody is not like me, Susannah ; there 
 are plenty still to rouse people out of their sleep at 
 unearthly hours, that they may take care of the 
 world and all its institutions," said Mrs. Moore, 
 laughing her easy, pleasant laugh that never irri- 
 tated me.
 
 68 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " That 's neither here nor there," observed Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder severely. " The excuse I have for be- 
 ing down so late, is that I did not sleep well at all. 
 Last night when I came home from the farmhouse, 
 Emma Lizzie wanted to walk over with me, but I 
 would n't let her, and just before I got to the house 
 a strange gentleman came up to me and said, 
 ' Oblige me, madam, by taking this money.' My 
 first thought was that he was some crazy man 
 stopping here awhile, but I remembered I had not 
 seen him anywhere in the house ; then I thought 
 perhaps he knew I was interested in the Little 
 Heathen's Bank, and I took it, and he went away ; 
 but when I got to my room I found it to be a 
 twenty dollar gold piece, and I fear it was a mis- 
 take. Eighty cents is the most any one person 
 has ever before been moved to give to the Little 
 Heathen's Bank." 
 
 " Yes, it was a mistake," said Mrs. Moore. " If 
 you will give it to me, I will see that the owner 
 gets it." 
 
 "Neighbor?" asked Mrs. Hardcreeder, with a 
 desire to appear wholly without curiosity. 
 
 " Yes," Mrs. Moore replied. 
 
 "Crazy, I suppose," observed the clergyman's 
 wife, a little more positively. 
 
 " Many might call him so. He is a miser who 
 is trying to reform himself."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 69 
 
 " Then why do you give him his money back ? " 
 
 " So that he may give it again." 
 
 " The same money ! " exclaimed Mrs. Hard- 
 creeder. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " But why not take his money after he has given 
 it and do some good with it ! " 
 
 " He has no real interest in the money, but 
 simply in the giving. He has no money whatever 
 himself," Mrs. Moore explained. 
 
 " Pray, whose money is this ? " demanded Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder, taking a gold piece from her pocket. 
 
 "Mine, I suppose," said her sister-in-law. Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder's face became positively livid. I had 
 taken the gold piece I had received the evening be- 
 fore and laid it upon the table ; she saw it and 
 knew instantly that it had come from the same 
 source as her own. 
 
 Mrs. Moore remained unmoved. 
 
 " Can you tell me how this man is reforming 
 himself giving away other people's money ? " Mrs. 
 Hardcreeder inquired, with her mouth drawn as if 
 from pain. 
 
 " Sometimes for weeks he carries gold pieces 
 about with him and cannot force himself to part 
 with one," said Mrs. Moore. 
 
 " And you trust him with your money ? You are 
 crazier than he, Sarah Jackson you are crazier
 
 70 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 than any of the godless lunatics that you harbor." 
 She arose and placing her hands upon the table, 
 leaned towards me with a concern in her face I 
 could not ignore, and said, earnestly, " You do not 
 belong in this place, Mr. Hardy ! Is your soul 
 saved ? If not, then leave and save it ! Here 
 nothing is sacred ; the tomb is robbed, and the 
 devil takes the names of innocent people quietly 
 resting in their graves waiting for the resurrection, 
 and conies to injure minds that are ready to be de- 
 ceived. Your mind is weak from sickness ; go 
 home ; go away anywhere rather than stay here ; 
 go, Mr. Hardy, go ! go ! " 
 
 I really wanted to ask her to give me some more 
 definite reason why I should fly so hastily from a 
 pleasant place, but Mrs. Moore with gentle tact 
 began to talk about my driving Clara Norton to 
 the village, and she added, " Clara and Thurston 
 have set their two hearts on a masquerade party 
 while you are here, John, and Clara wants a seam- 
 stress. It is not very far to the village and the 
 drive will do you good. Will you go ? " 
 
 " Nothing more agreeable could be suggested," 
 I declared. I wanted to stop and ask about the 
 gentlemanly miser, but I felt that I would better 
 ask Thurston or wait until Mrs. Hardcreeder was 
 absent. Before I had finished breakfast, the 
 phaeton was driven to the front door, and when I
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 71 
 
 went out Clara Norton sat holding the reins and 
 talking to the Temple twins, who sat on a little 
 seat in front facing her. As soon as she saw me 
 at the door, she said in a low tone : 
 
 "There is Mr. Hardy, just look at him; does he 
 look as if he would let you go ? " 
 
 The two black heads turned, and four dark, 
 unmoved eyes rested upon me. " Yes," they 
 replied, as if one impulse had moved them simul- 
 taneously. Nor did they turn their eyes from me 
 while Miss Norton and I exchanged the compli- 
 ments of the morning. 
 
 " Mrs. Moore has been disposing of your time 
 very coolly while you slept, Mr. Hardy," said Miss 
 Norton. " You are to drive me, or I am to drive 
 you, to the village this morning." 
 
 " I would Mrs. Moore were Fate, if she will plan 
 events for me while I sleep which I could only 
 aspire to in dreams," I said. 
 
 " Save such compliments, I beg, until Mr. 
 Thurston's masquerade," she returned ; " he is 
 going to have one. It sounds out of the key of 
 sunlight. In the moonlight it may not be out of 
 harmony, but the sunlight demands honesty; don't 
 you think so ? " Then, without waiting for an 
 answer, " You are looking a little tired this morn- 
 ing, Mr. Hardy. You went up stairs late, and 
 Thurston said he kept you up there talking a long
 
 72 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 time. Don't let us forget that you are a convales- 
 cent. These are the Infant Protoplasts ; are you 
 going to let them go to drive with us?" 
 
 " Bareheaded ? " I asked, not wholly pleased 
 with the idea of having their company any way. 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered, laughing gaily, " they 
 have bonnets." 
 
 I stood by the phaeton, waiting unconsciously 
 for them to get out. They sat perfectly quiet, 
 their plump, brown hands folded exactly alike, 
 and their soft, dark eyes not unlike the eyes of a 
 pet seal that mutely and unconsciously appeals to 
 you, not perhaps as a human soul, but as one in 
 embryo. 
 
 " I am your guest, Miss Norton. You are the one 
 to decide how many shall go." 
 
 " No ; that is a very cowardly way out of it. If 
 you don't want them to go, say so, and I will send 
 them away." 
 
 " They don't want to go," I said, watching in 
 vain for a change of expression in the little, 
 swarthy faces. " They want to go in-doors and read 
 a page of Herbert Spencer and tell us all about 
 it when we get back." 
 
 I turned toward Miss Norton and a tranquil 
 voice murmured, " Us is going." 
 
 " Which one said that ? " I asked. " Me," they 
 both replied.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 73 
 
 " I have often heard of two people having but 
 one heart between them, but I never heard of two 
 having only one mind," I said. 
 
 " Come," Miss Norton said hastily, " if you 
 want to go, run get your bonnets and hurry back ; 
 we will wait for you." I lifted them out, and hand 
 in hand they waddled off without a word towards 
 the farmhouse for their bonnets. 
 
 " What a perfect morning," I exclaimed, as I 
 took a seat in the phaeton. 
 
 " Beautiful," Miss Norton returned, rather ab- 
 sently, I thought. 
 
 " I wish Thurston were going with us instead of 
 those twins," I said, frankly. 
 
 " He will be at home this afternoon, and he 
 rides and drives all the time, and the poor little 
 protoplasts don't get many chances." 
 
 " Do you think Thurston seems quite as jolly as 
 he used to be ? " I asked. " I have not seen him 
 for some time until now." 
 
 " I think failing in his examination was a great 
 disappointment ; but he is nothing but a boy, he 
 has time enough. I tell him so all the time, and I 
 wish you would do the same." 
 
 " I do, but somehow I don't think it makes him 
 comfortable." 
 
 " You must make him comfortable," she said, 
 impulsively. " He is the dearest boy in the world.
 
 74 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Of course what a man says would have more 
 weight than anything a girl could say, or even his 
 mother. He is like a brother to me, and has been 
 for years. You think he does not seem quite so 
 jolly as he used to do you really mean it?" 
 
 " Sometimes he seems more jolly, but he runs 
 down quickly, if you can understand that." 
 
 She looked perplexed, and I wondered if she 
 were ignorant of Thurston's love for her. In the 
 bright sunlight her fair face showed no blemish 
 and her soft hair caught the bright rays and held 
 them there until she seemed to wear a red gold 
 crown. But as I looked at her my sympathies 
 were with Robert Ryan, for I thought Thurston 
 Moore was only a boy. 
 
 " T wish," she said slowly, " that you would not 
 make me feel that you are hiding half the thoughts 
 you have in your mind. I do not mean that a 
 person has not a perfect right to his ideas and 
 thoughts, and the privilege of keeping them all to 
 himself if he will ; but I think one should decide 
 before he speaks whether he means to give his 
 ideas, or hide them. For instance : when you first 
 came out and stood by the carriage, of what were 
 you thinking ? While you were talking I was not 
 only perfectly conscious of what you said, but 
 half conscious of what you were thinking. To be 
 half conscious of anything for me is positive pain."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 75 
 
 " According to that idea anybody has the power 
 of giving you positive pain." 
 
 " Certainly, anybody." 
 
 " If I am sometimes very honest then, you must 
 know that it is to spare you pain." 
 
 " If you will be so, I shall always respect your 
 intention, Mr. Hardy." 
 
 At this moment a buxom looking girl came 
 towards the carriage, leading back the seal-eyed 
 babies. She was dressed in some cotton material 
 which was starched stiff and rattled as she 
 walked. 
 
 " There ! " she exclaimed, as she lifted the chil- 
 dren in and sat them on the little seat, " I have 
 done the best I could to make them look decent, but 
 they are all to pieces ; if the wind blows hard, there 
 ain't a button on them but will fly off. I told Mrs. 
 Temple this morning before she went to the 
 city that if they was my children, I should be 
 ashamed of 'em. But she said the best of Emman- 
 uel and her was in 'em, though what that had to 
 do with their buttons, I could n't tell. But land ! 
 you could n't treat 'em bad, they ain't any more 
 trouble than if they was carved out of wood." 
 
 " Thank you ever so much for making them so 
 presentable," said Miss Norton. " They won't 
 get out. I think they will hold together." She 
 lifted the reins, and we drove away.
 
 j 6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " That is the Emma Liz, I suppose," I said, as 
 we entered the long avenue. 
 
 " Yes; now tell me what you had in your mind 
 when you first came out; that will do to begin 
 with." 
 
 " I had the impression last night that you were 
 not a coquette ; but, manlike, this morning I made 
 up my mind I must demonstrate it by my reason. 
 I began badly. Now I must wait for time to 
 prove what I might, if I had been clever, have 
 found Out in a few minutes." 
 
 " What. you know by intuition, you should never 
 try to prove, but accept as a favor from the gods," 
 she said, laughing. " Originally man had intui- 
 tion as well as woman; but he insulted the gods by 
 applying proofs to what was given by the immor- 
 tals, and they slowly withdrew the blessing. A few 
 have it, like you, in a small way; but, like you, 
 they will not trust it, and in time it will die out 
 entirely." 
 
 " Not in those who trust it, I beseech ! You 
 hold out a little hope for a few of us, don't you ? " 
 
 " Too late, I fear; you must do the best you can 
 now with your reason and your logic. But tell me, 
 do you think something is wrong with Thurston ? 
 Maria Williams thinks so, too." 
 
 " No coquette," I thought, " would have turned 
 the current of a conversation, just as it was cen-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 7 7 
 
 tring all its interest upon herself, as this girl has 
 done. But she knows she has hurt the boy, and 
 would like to repair the damages." 
 
 " Do you think it possible," I said, coolly, " that 
 Thurston is in love with anybody ? " 
 
 " Preposterous ! " she exclaimed, then laughed 
 merrily ; but suddenly her face changed, and I 
 imagined she looked a little frightened. " Now 
 don't let me jump at conclusions," she said, loos- 
 ing the reins and allowing the pony to walk, " and 
 yet so many things come to me now that he has 
 said. Yet, boy as he is, he is too manly to care for 
 any one who could never care for him." 
 
 She paused abruptly. I felt that I was not see- 
 ing acting, but the literal dawning of a truth upon 
 an unwilling mind. 
 
 " I will find out/' she said, tightening the reins 
 again so suddenly that the heads of the protoplasts 
 struck the dasher and their little heels flew up. 
 
 I settled one with the devout wish that the but- 
 tons had not suffered ; and Miss Norton caught 
 the other just as she threatened to roll out. As 
 the one on my side came up she said, " I like 
 Thurston, he is good." As the other was settled, 
 she said, in the same tone, " I like Thurston, he is 
 good." 
 
 Their minds had probably worked out the prob- 
 lem at the same moment ; but, owing to one re-
 
 78 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 covering her equilibrium later, the expression in 
 her case was delayed. I forgot them immedi- 
 ately in my anxiety to learn what Miss Norton 
 was thinking. 
 
 " How will you find out ? " 
 
 "Wait for the masquerade party. I will sur- 
 prise him. The poor boy ! I know it is a mis- 
 take, but I will find out ; afterward we will tell 
 him, and what fun he will make of us. Don't let 
 us talk any more about it ; if we do, I shall imagine 
 that it is true, and may be he is perfectly wretched. 
 Here is the place, I won't stay long." 
 
 The next building to the one she entered was a 
 small candy shop. The four seal eyes wandered 
 slowly from the door through which she had dis- 
 appeared to the inviting window of this shop ; then 
 they wandered, still without emotion, to my face, 
 and I am sure they both said, " Papa's money all 
 gone ; is you money all gone ? " 
 
 There was no need that these infants should 
 know the truth, and I felt in my pocket for 
 some change, when I saw that their stockings were, 
 in some mysterious manner, trying to cover their 
 shoes, and the stocking bands, or infant suspen- 
 ders, or whatever those dangling things were that 
 the Emma Liz had induced to disappear, were 
 ready and willing to trail after them again ; and, 
 although I had never made infant rigging a study,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 79 
 
 I felt sure that something ought to be made fast that 
 was not; and this brought to my mind what the 
 Emma Liz had hinted, that something might hap- 
 pen if the wind blew hard, and possibly that jerk 
 they had received when the pony started was as 
 bad for them as a high wind. I gave a furtive 
 glance up and down the street to see if anybody 
 was in sight, not even a dog. 
 
 I pointed down at something which I felt, from 
 the little intuition the gods had left in me, must 
 be out of order, and I said softly, but sternly, 
 " Take a reef in that ! " 
 
 " That 's my pettitote," said one ; " the button 
 is boke." 
 
 " My two buttons is boke, too," said the other. 
 
 Never mind which spoke the idea was the same, 
 and a most terrible one, they -were coming to 
 pieces! Miss Norton would come out and find 
 me buried under the rigging of the wretched in- 
 fants. I forced myself to become passive, and 
 waited for an inspiration. It came. One of them 
 was standing between my knees asking me to pin 
 her pettitote. I had never pinned a pettitote. 
 Nanny's baby never wore pettitotes. I hastily 
 drew some silver from my pocket and pointed to 
 the candy shop ; then I said gently, but distinctly, 
 " Go buy you some nice candy ; and ask somebody 
 in there to put you together, pin you up, take a
 
 go A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 reef, or anything you most need." The inspira- 
 tion was a good one. I don't blame Heaven for 
 that ; but this is how it turned out. 
 
 The moment these protoplasts struck the ground, 
 what they had called pettitotes fell, dropped 
 upon the ground ! Deliberately they shook them 
 off, as calmly as if they were but dust before a city 
 gate, and entered the candy shop. My first im- 
 pulse was to take the whip handle and push them 
 under the phaeton out of sight ; but as I reached 
 for the whip, I heard a door open and thought 
 Miss Norton was coming, but it proved to be a fat 
 woman from the candy shop. 
 
 " How much candy do you want your children to 
 buy ? " she inquired, coming up to the carriage. 
 Before I could recover from the idea that she took 
 me for Emmanuel Temple, her diabolical eye fell 
 on the small garments lying by the wheel. 
 
 " Now ain't that just like a man," she said. " I 
 was sure them children dropped something when 
 they got out, and they did ; and I suppose you 
 never noticed it. They might have dropped off 
 every rag on them and you would n't have known. 
 I shouldn't come out though, because I saw their 
 mother go in the dressmaker's, and I knew she 'd 
 see when she came back, for a woman knows how 
 many stitches there is in children's clothing," as if 
 every stitch in those things had not cost me more
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 81 
 
 than it ever cost Consolation Temple ! She 
 looked at me severely, and then, just as Miss 
 Norton came out, she threw the two far from 
 immaculate garments upon the little seat in front, 
 and there they rested with a glaring vitality which 
 threatened to stamp itself upon my memory for- 
 ever. Miss Norton stared a little when she came 
 up and saw nothing but the two little garments in 
 place of the twins. She blushed a little too when 
 she said, " Where are they ? " 
 
 The woman did not appear to feel quite so free 
 with Miss Norton as with me, and she said, turn- 
 ing to me, " Well, I suppose you don't care what 
 they buy ? " 
 
 " No," I replied hastily, " I don't care. If you 
 have any Prussic acid drops, give them all they 
 can eat." 
 
 Miss Norton laughed and said, " After the warn- 
 ing from the Emma Liz, you should not have let 
 them get out." Then, before I knew it, she had 
 seized the protoplasts' garments and followed the 
 woman into the candy shop. When, she came 
 back she drove the twins before her. They were 
 apparently as well put together as when we started. 
 I jumped out hastily to help her put them in, but 
 she begged me not to touch them unless I had 
 made up my mind that I never wished to be parted 
 from them, and I felt the truth of what she said 
 
 6
 
 82 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 when I looked at them, freed from the enchant- 
 ment of distance; for they apparently carried, 
 either upon hands, face, or garments, a small 
 sample of every kind of sweets the fat woman 
 sold. 
 
 After we had started I sat gazing at them with 
 undisguised disgust. " I know you wish we had 
 not brought them," said Miss Norton. 
 
 " No," I murmured, " Mrs. Temple tells us that 
 every experience, however bitter, strengthens the 
 soul." 
 
 She laughed, but her laugh was not very merry. 
 She began to tell me about the good seamstress 
 she had found, and we talked of the masquerade 
 party. Suddenly she cried, " If Thurston loves 
 anybody, I know who it is. A horrible idea has 
 come into my mind, but I mean to follow it out. 
 At first I was going to tell you about it, but I have 
 changed my mind ; I want you to enjoy the party, 
 and if I told you perhaps you would not. I will 
 only tell you that I mean to fathom him. Now we 
 won't say any more about it until the party." 
 
 She looked troubled, and I imagined a little sad ; 
 and I thought as we drove home that, after all, it 
 was more comfortable for a pretty woman to be a 
 coquette than not. That is to say, more comfort- 
 able for her.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHEN Miss Norton left me to deliver the 
 sticky twins to anybody who would care for 
 them, I was sorry to see the Emma Liz rounding 
 the corner of the farmhouse, and I heard her ask 
 if Miss Norton could spare her a few minutes. 
 
 I hoped that she meant literally what she said, 
 but I feared as they disappeared up stairs that it 
 might mean that indefinite length of time that 
 those three words sometimes grow to embrace in 
 the feminine mind. 
 
 I felt neglected and wished as they disappeared 
 that the same little tug had steamed me into a 
 comfortable harbor before leaving. 
 
 I knew that Mrs. Moore and her sister-in-law 
 were in the library, but I walked into the garden 
 and sat down alone. 
 
 There was the smell of the springtime every- 
 where. I had never been near Jeannette Carlton 
 in the springtime, but everything seemed to me 
 pervaded with her sweetness. I could not even 
 make the attempt to banish the thought of her. I
 
 84 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 have no idea how long I sat there, lost in thought, 
 bitter and sweet, when I heard the rustle of a 
 woman's garments, and looking up I saw Consola- 
 tion Temple contemplating me with her artificial 
 smile spread to its fullest extent. 
 
 As I raised my head she came nearer and sat 
 down beside me. She raised her eyes and let 
 them fall slowly upon me as she had done the 
 evening before, and I felt as if a cloud had floated 
 between me and the sun. 
 
 " You were not alone," she murmured, " yet you 
 deemed yourself alone ! " 
 
 " On the contrary, Mrs. Temple, Memory with 
 all her train of fays and fiends was with me ; but 
 she fled as you approached." 
 
 " Take it as a good omen," she said softly, " that 
 however dark and dreary Memory may be there is 
 a daughter of light ever ready to banish her. I 
 am your sister, John Hardy." 
 
 I did not contradict the assertion, but mentally 
 advised this sister not to proclaim the fact to my 
 other sister, until that lady had had time to grow 
 to the full beauty of the idea. 
 
 " Did you ever hear of the society of which I 
 am the founder ? " she inquired sweetly. 
 
 " No," I said, " I never did, but I wish I could, 
 for I am sure it must be unique." 
 
 " It is called," she spoke slowly, " The Knights 
 and Ladies of a Spiritual Fraternity."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 85 
 
 " After one becomes a member I suppose there 
 is nothing vague about the name." 
 
 " Let me explain a little what is expected of each 
 member," half indicating an interrogation point; 
 but without waiting for me to speak she continued : 
 " The whole society is to be like one colossal soul ! 
 No member can harbor a thought, a desire, that 
 does not belong to all. For instance, I come to 
 you as I came just now and find you sad, .and 
 spirit weary. I sit beside you ; I say, ' Brother, I 
 would know it all.' Not a thought, not a memory, 
 not a pain could you hide from me. Perhaps in- 
 stead of love, you were thinking of some new en- 
 terprise in which you intended to invest your money 
 next, or how you could cheat another brother. 
 All must be freely told. Think what a power such 
 a society might become ! Imagine everybody you 
 know as members ! Think of only a part of the 
 wealth and intellect of a city like Boston joining in 
 such a sacred and gigantic enterprise. Oh, no, 
 that is not the word in such a holy fraternity. 
 Can you imagine the moral force of all those peo- 
 ple uniting and acting as one ? If the grandeur of 
 it can overcome the mind that conceived it, how 
 must it affect the mind which hears of it for the first 
 time ? " and she bowed her head upon her long, 
 white hand. 
 
 " Do the members wear badges ? " I asked tim-
 
 86 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 idly, hoping that if she were able to concentrate 
 her mind a moment upon a simple detail she might 
 be spared the anguish that viewing her project as 
 a whole seemed to cause her. 
 
 " Yes," she said, almost tragically, " small mir- 
 rors upon the breast. In these are reflected the 
 thoughts and actions of the wearers." 
 
 "By what magic means? " I inquired. 
 
 " By the oath, the sacred oath, that binds each 
 to the other in truth. Every evening every mem- 
 ber is bound to write all that he has done, or 
 thought, throughout the day. Bind together every 
 thought, deed and passion, as the reaper returns 
 and binds the wheat. Their sheaves of mental 
 wheat are garnered, or in more practical words, 
 their diaries are filed, and every member is free at 
 any time to read them. Thus, your yesterday is 
 my yesterday, as much as mine is yours. The 
 hopes and ambitions of your to-morrow become 
 the inheritance of the whole fraternity. These 
 files are the key which unlocks the one great soul 
 with its myriad minds and hearts. The conception 
 staggers me ! " 
 
 Again I felt obliged to put a little wedge in the 
 wheel of her imagination, and I said, " What are 
 the qualities necessary to join and how how 
 about the initiatory expense ? " 
 
 " The qualities ? " she said, raising her head
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 87 
 
 from her breast, where it had drooped from the 
 weight of her vision, " none but what you possess, 
 brother boldness and delicacy. Boldness to de- 
 mand the truth, and delicacy to handle it after you 
 possess it. Will you join us? Many noble souls, 
 who have shuffled off the mortal coil, have conde- 
 scended to be counted among us. Surely you cannot 
 listen with indifference to such names as " Here 
 she drew a little book from her pocket and read : 
 " William Shakespeare, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas 
 Campbell, Bunyan, Cicero, Plato, Milton, Dante, 
 Byron, Swedenborg, Washington. I could go on 
 for pages, but the geniuses who have passed on 
 are not unknown to you ; and where genius was 
 unaccompanied by prejudice, there you will find 
 we were able to enroll the names with those mor- 
 tals who, though still bound to earth, aspire above 
 her sods. The initiation fee is the paltry sum of 
 one dollar." 
 
 " I do not wish to be curious," I said, " but how 
 have these gentlemen, whom you have just named, 
 found a way to meet the material part of their 
 obligations ? " 
 
 " There is nothing we wish to hide," she replied, 
 " and to pretend that our society needed no mate- 
 rial aid would be as senseless as to deny my babes 
 bread and butter because they are immortal souls. 
 For a long time spirits were admitted as honorary
 
 88 A Fearless Investigator. - 
 
 members, and free ; but one day I was speaking 
 to Thurston of the depressed state of the society's 
 finances, and he advised us to assess each spirit 
 member. You can imagine how a soul like mine 
 would shrink from asking William Shakespeare for 
 a dollar." 
 
 " Think of it ! " I exclaimed, " I would not have 
 believed it of Thurston." 
 
 " His idea was worthy of a member of the Spir- 
 itual Fraternity ; it was that each mortal member 
 was to pay for one great soul who had lived and 
 passed on, and then that soul should become his 
 spirit guide." 
 
 " And whom pray did Thurston admit? " 
 
 " That is not for me to tell, you must ask him." 
 
 " Oh, I beg pardon. I thought everything was 
 known ; that every detail was public property." 
 
 "To those of the fraternity," she said softly, 
 lingering on the words as if they were very 
 pleasant. 
 
 " Can you withdraw at any time ? " I asked. 
 
 " No spiritual stimulus can be withdrawn sud- 
 denly without great danger to the soul's vitality ; 
 but spirit cannot be chained." 
 
 " That means you can leave when you like ? " 
 She nodded with great gentleness. " It is a glori- 
 ous cause," I said. "Are there any more dead 
 geniuses who would like to belong? I don't be-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 89 
 
 lieve I will enroll my own name yet ; but it makes 
 me feel queer strange, I should say, when I think 
 of some great man, like Milton, or Dante, waiting 
 round the doors and seeing mortal knights and 
 ladies going in, and yet debarred for the paltry 
 sum of one dollar. Could I be allowed to offer 
 the initiatory fee of any ghost I mean departed 
 genius ? " 
 
 " This is indeed generous ! " She spoke almost 
 with emotion. Then, taking another little book 
 from her pocket, she continued : " Here are a few 
 names given me by a very responsible medium, 
 names of those who, having finished their petty 
 labors here, are not scornful of those who still 
 tread in the world's great wine-press. The first 
 name I read is Thomas Gray. ' The ploughman 
 homeward plods his weary way.' That 's Gray, I 
 think." 
 
 "Yes," I said, "and those churchyard lines are 
 all I can recall of his. His poetry is perfect ; but 
 if I I don't like the idea of a mind like Gray's 
 being dependent on me for an entrance fee any- 
 where, and I don't mean to depreciate his genius, 
 but you said something about becoming a spirit 
 guide ; I could not tell you how much I admire 
 Gray I hope he is not present now but I 
 must say that as a guide he might be a little de- 
 pressing."
 
 90 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " The next name," she was growing a little more 
 business-like, " is Laurence Sterne." 
 
 " That is indeed a leap from the gentle Gray to 
 the festive Laurence. Life would be a long, senti- 
 mental journey with Laurence Sterne as a guide." 
 " I have an idea ! Most minds I find are simple, 
 and run in one groove ; but yours, dear brother, is 
 complex, hence one guide is not sufficient. Choose 
 four, or five even, and when one side of your mind 
 is in action that will call to you one guide ; when 
 another side is moved, then another guide in sym- 
 pathy with that side will lead you." 
 
 I was so carried away by this idea, and delicate 
 compliment, that I quite forgot that four or five 
 guides meant as many dollars. Now I had not a 
 dollar in my possession, as the reader knows, that 
 did not belong to Tom Davenport. But I was not 
 thinking of Tom, or his dollars. I was selecting 
 my four guides. " You understand my mind so 
 well," I said, " if you would be kind enough to 
 suggest " 
 
 " I do claim to have a little spirit insight," she 
 said, modestly. 
 
 "Now I want simply four ghosts spirits I 
 should say as far apart as the four points of the 
 compass. All the names you read me are engaged, 
 I suppose." 
 
 " Oh, yes, and many more."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 91 
 
 " Did you mention Moore, Thomas Moore ? " 
 
 " We sent for Moore, but he was just starting on 
 a long tour among the stars ; but he stopped long 
 enough to find a substitute, and I am sure you will 
 smile when I name him John Calvin ! At first 
 Calvin would not come ; he said the basis of the 
 society was too broad ; but Moore told him the 
 current of popular thought had widened a little 
 since his mortal day, and perhaps it would not hurt 
 him to come back and take a swim in it." 
 
 " A swim ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes, in the current of popular thought. Moore 
 is fond of metaphor. Well, Calvin came I sup- 
 pose Moore must be a wonderfully persuasive man 
 but judge of his mortification, when his name 
 had been weeks on the list and no one offered to 
 pay his initiatory expenses. I was in despair. 
 One day, after I had persuaded an old theologian 
 to join, I mentioned this subject of guides, and 
 hoped he would select Calvin ; but he said, ' Sister, 
 give him to some unregenerate soul, and give me 
 some poet that I enjoyed when I was young.' " 
 
 " And Calvin is still left in the cold ? " I asked. 
 " Put him down for the north point of my compass." 
 
 " And Laurence Sterne for the south ? " she 
 asked, smiling. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And dear Thomas Gray for the east ? "
 
 92 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "If I might dare suggest," said Consolation, 
 softly, with the top of her pencil on her thin lips. 
 
 " Do," I cried, "for I can think of no one." 
 
 " Dare I suggest one of my own sex ? " she mur- 
 mured, laying the tips of her white, slender fingers 
 on my arm. "Has not woman lived and sung? 
 Has she left no great name in song and story? 
 Think of Sappho!" 
 
 " As a guide ? " I inquired, strangely moved. 
 
 " Not as your only guide ; perhaps you could 
 put her at the south, and change Sterne over to the 
 west." 
 
 " Oh, no," I said, a little fearful of Sappho, 
 " those three points are settled." 
 
 " Why not Hypatia ? She was a glorious woman." 
 
 " You seem determined to cover that point with 
 a heathen, I see." 
 
 " Not at all," she said blandly, looking again at 
 her little book. " Here is Mrs. Hemans, to come 
 suddenly down the centuries." 
 
 " I have nothing against the heathen," I said, 
 " but after I had been with Gray, I believe prose 
 would be a relief." 
 
 " There is a George Sand, that woman of gigan- 
 tic mind and heart." 
 
 " Just the man woman I mean. Now we have 
 four. Will you interview them at your earliest
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 93 
 
 convenience and see if they will accept me ? Of 
 course they can be off duty a great part of the 
 time." 
 
 " And now," she said, earnestly, " can you refuse 
 your own name where such souls enroll ? " 
 
 " I do not refuse my name, madam it is the 
 duties that enlisting involve ; I am not able at 
 present to keep a diary, nor is my mind yet in a 
 state where the report of its working could be of 
 any benefit to the society." 
 
 " When I spoke of all that, my brother," she 
 said, musingly, " I was giving you a glimpse of 
 what the society would be eventually. Even now 
 many zealous and conscientious members daily 
 write down the doings of their inner life and send 
 it to me ; but until all do it I am bound by all that 
 is sacred to permit no human eye, save mine, to 
 follow the words. No one need know that you 
 are a member until you desire it." 
 
 I was so much pleased with her consideration 
 that I quite forgot to ask how we were all going to 
 move as one great soul if we knew nothing of each 
 other's actions ; but she began to expatiate on the 
 rejoicings of these geniuses who had been admitted 
 through me, and this naturally recalled to my 
 mind the material part of the transaction, and I 
 gave her a dollar for John Calvin, one for Sterne, 
 one for Gray, one for George Sand, and one for
 
 94 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 myself. She took from a little bag she carried a 
 small, oval mirror bound with a blue ribbon, and I 
 allowed her to pin it over my heart. I did not 
 quite like the idea, but I determined to do away 
 with all prejudice while I stayed at The Poplars. 
 As I was handing her the money I looked up, for 
 a shadow fell upon us, and I saw the old gentleman 
 who gave away gold. 
 
 " Don't give her any money," he said, " she 
 never returns it." 
 
 I was surprised to see Consolation grow quite 
 pale, and rising hastily, she said, " I will see you 
 soon again, Mr. Hardy, and renew our conversation. 
 I will interview the four points of the compass and 
 report." In an instant she had glided away. 
 
 " Damned humbug ! she is," said the old man, 
 taking a seat beside me. 
 
 " Very clever, though," I said, laughing, " you 
 must admit." 
 
 " Clever as a leech. Come now, what has she 
 been drawing from you ? " 
 
 " I am a member of the Knights and Ladies 
 Spiritual Fraternity." I spoke slowly and gravely, 
 as Consolation had done. 
 
 " How much did it cost you ? " 
 
 " A dollar." I thought I would not mention the 
 guides. I was afraid this old man might think I 
 had not made a good selection.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 95 
 
 " Look here, young man, that was no dollar in- 
 terview. I know just how long you have been sit- 
 ting here." 
 
 " To gratify your curiosity, I will own that I 
 paid the entrance fee of John Calvin, Laurence 
 Sterne, Thomas Gray and and George Sand." 
 
 " I don't care how much money she gets out of 
 you," and he began to laugh softly, " but don't be- 
 lieve a word she says." 
 
 " But you must admit that the twins need new 
 shoes, Mr. St. Clair." 
 
 " That 's all right. I find no fault with that," 
 and drawing a piece of gold from his pocket, which 
 he handled tenderly, he repeated " that 's all right, 
 that 's all right. Oblige me by taking this." 
 
 I took it and slipped it into my pocket. His 
 face saddened a little as it disappeared, but in a 
 moment he asked with interest, " What is your be- 
 setting sin ? " 
 
 " I really don't know." 
 
 " Pride, sir, pride. I would rather have mine. 
 Any man but a proud man can be helped. Good- 
 day, and thank you." He arose as if to leave. 
 
 " I hope I have said nothing to offend," I 
 ventured. 
 
 He turned abruptly and looked at me curiously. 
 " Is it possible you do not understand me " he 
 laughed good-naturedly and sat down again. " It
 
 g6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 would be impossible for you to offend me," he 
 continued, crossing one leg carelessly over the 
 other. "Yes, impossible, whatever you might 
 say. Consolation Temple cannot offend me. I 
 tell people not to believe her words, but it makes 
 no real difference to me whether they do or not. 
 If you ever go to a place called Test Your Soul 
 but there, there, I must not detain you. I 'm apt 
 to tell long stories of strange places other people 
 can't seem to find. If your real motive in giving 
 Consolation the five dollars was that the twins 
 might have some shoes, no matter what becomes of 
 the money, it will do you good to give it," and he 
 laughed again his low, rather musical laugh. 
 
 I was on the point of asking for a story of one 
 of the strange places when I heard Mrs. Moore 
 calling me, and locking his arm in mine he said, 
 " You are wanted elsewhere," and arm in arm we 
 left the garden. 
 
 As we approached the house I saw Maria Wil- 
 liams standing on the piazza. She looked at us 
 with an amused smile on her gentle face, and I 
 fancied she was wondering how much gold the old 
 gentleman had given me. Perhaps the man was a 
 harmless lunatic, and she thought I did not know 
 it. However that may be, I saw her exchange 
 glances with Mrs. Moore as that lady came 
 towards us saying, "You are friends with Mr.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 97 
 
 Hardy, I see, Mr. St. Clair. Now you must make 
 peace with my sister, Mrs. Hardcreeder, by giving 
 her some money for the Heathen's Bank. It will 
 be all right; tell her it is for that purpose," and 
 she formally presented Mr. St. Clair to her sister- 
 in-law, when I saw again the same amused smile 
 on the face of Maria Williams as we all sat down 
 together upon the piazza. 
 
 " The time has been, Mrs. Hardcreeder," said 
 Mr. St. Clair, " when I could have given thousands 
 of dollars to the heathen ; but now I have 
 nothing." 
 
 " Yes, you have," said Mrs. Moore, persuasively. 
 
 " This much I can make plain to you, my dear 
 madam," he said, with gentle courtesy, addressing 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder, " I am here to outgrow a fault, 
 a weakness ; I must learn to part with gold without 
 pain. It is self-imposed, the task, I mean. The 
 truth is, I have no gold. I could explain to you 
 why, if I chose, but enough that I have none. My 
 kind friend, Mrs. Moore, lends me hers. I do not 
 give it away to give any one the idea that I am 
 generous. I usually say to the person who takes it 
 that he will take it to oblige me and afterward re- 
 turn it to Mrs. Moore, or her son. If you had a 
 weak chest, and a friend offered you dumb bells to 
 use whenever you wanted them until you were 
 strong, you would have the same right to give 
 7
 
 98 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 away those dumb bells that I have to give Mrs. 
 Moore's money to the Heathen's Bank." 
 
 " Yet it would please me, Susannah," said Mrs. 
 Moore, "if you would accept this piece Mr. St. 
 Clair gave you. Take it and credit it to Paul St. 
 Clair." 
 
 "I will not!" said Mrs. Hardcreeder, indig- 
 nantly. " liyou feel moved to give it, I will credit 
 it to you if the money is yours." 
 
 " Good ! " said Paul St. Clair. " I feel the jus- 
 tice of what Mrs. Hardcreeder says." 
 
 Before we had finished with the funds of the 
 Heathen's Bank, Thurston drove up with Dwight 
 Salem. The sight of Salem made me uncom- 
 fortable. 
 
 He came up the steps, I thought, with the air of 
 a well-bred boy at a circus. He raised his glass 
 and looked at each person as he was presented 
 much as if he had been before the cage of curious 
 animals. When he came to me he shook hands 
 and said, " It is no suwpwise to find you at The 
 Poplaws. I saw Mrs. Davenpowt this mowning 
 and she told me all about you." 
 
 " I am surprised to see you," I said very 
 honestly. 
 
 " Pwobably," he returned coolly. 
 
 "He met Miss Barry yesterday," Thurston ex- 
 plained, " and she persuaded him to come out for
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 99 
 
 the fair to-night. If Isador Barry ever finds her 
 fortune fled, all she will have to do will be to let 
 herself out to societies during their fair fevers to 
 rob young men." 
 
 " It is not weally a bad thing to be wobbed 
 sometimes," said Salem gallantly. 
 
 I was not sorry when I learned that he bad only 
 driven out with Thurston, but was going imme- 
 diately to the Barrys' ; but I was much surprised 
 at his coming out to a country fair.
 
 ioo A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MANY incidents occurred during my visit at 
 The Poplars of which I had perfect know- 
 ledge, although I was not an eye witness. 
 
 If I relate any of them I shall not feel obliged to 
 cite my authority ; not because it was not always 
 the best, not that I am unwilling, but because it is 
 unnecessary. 
 
 Mrs. Holt, or Aunt Marthy, as Thurston always 
 called the stout widow of their old farmer, still 
 lived at the farmhouse, although a young man had 
 taken the position left vacant by her husband. 
 But to use her own words, this boy farmer did not 
 live at the farmhouse, he only boarded there. 
 
 For months Aunt Marthy had been " investiga- 
 ting," and her peace of mind, usually so well estab- 
 lished, had been for weeks almost tottering at the 
 success which old Miss Kimball's niece, Mandy 
 Litchfield, had attained as a medium. Aunt Mar- 
 thy had waited with great patience, but in vain, for 
 old Miss Kimball to develop, and, hidden deep in 
 the recesses of her own bosom, lived the hope,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 101 
 
 none the less strong because nourished in secret, 
 that some day she might become a medium 
 herself. 
 
 Honest, strong-nerved, unimaginative, but cred- 
 ulous, Aunt Marthy with pain saw others possessed 
 of that strange power which was so far beyond her 
 longing grasp. 
 
 Old Miss Kimball could not sit five minutes in 
 the circle without twitching, or sometimes fairly 
 jumping to her feet, so strong was the " influence ; " 
 but Aunt Marthy never moved. After the mo- 
 ment's death-like silence that always followed the 
 discordant rendering of " Nearer my God to 
 Thee," it was always old Miss Kimball who sent 
 forth a sigh that would have been no disgrace to 
 Aunt Marthy's huge chimney in a northeast storm. 
 
 Often Aunt Marthy had watched her old friend 
 as she sat with her broad bosom shaken by sighs 
 which must have come from another world, and, 
 like the winds of this, gathered force as they 
 travelled, and often too as they sat alone with the 
 bare kitchen table between them she had trembled 
 as she thought of husband, and children, perhaps, 
 standing beside her; and the full lips of old Miss 
 Kimball had twitched, and opened and shut, but 
 strain her ears as best she was able, Aunt Marthy 
 never caught a word. 
 
 Poor old Miss Kimball ! She understood the
 
 102 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mechanical part of it fairly well, and when that 
 was accomplished, nature, perhaps unwilling that 
 she should suffer mortification, always granted to 
 her a sweet, natural sleep ; which, if it brought no 
 message from spirit lands to Aunt Marthy, brought 
 a forgetfulness of defeat to the portly sleeper. 
 Complete forgetfulness, for when she finished her 
 slumber, during which Aunt Marthy had softly 
 attended to many little duties, she always looked 
 up at the clock and said, " O, me ! why it 's late, 
 and I don't remember nothing." 
 
 Then if the night was cold, she had a glass of 
 hot cider or composition ; if hot, she had some- 
 thing cooling ; and when she left she always said, 
 " I know I ain't got much power yet ; but if it is 
 any comfort, I '11 set for ye any time, Marthy." 
 
 At such times Aunt Marthy's kindliness of heart 
 came up and crushed the faint sense of the ludi- 
 crous that struggled a moment for existence, and 
 as she said " Good-night," she kissed the flabby 
 cheek of her old friend, who had been with her 
 through many a sorrow, for she had done what 
 she could ; and when Miss KimbalPs niece, Mandy 
 Litchfield, proved that she could do much more, 
 she had brought her to Aunt Marthy and resigned 
 the seat of honor. 
 
 Mandy Litchfield was a medium-sized woman of 
 thirty, possibly thirty-five years. She had small
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 103 
 
 black eyes, and dark, tight-curling hair. Accord- 
 ing to her own story, she stitched shoes, and was 
 satisfied with the occupation and what it brought 
 her until one day as she sat at her machine her 
 work flew suddenly from her hand, and although 
 she jerked it back with as much force as her indif- 
 ferent and negative personality could command, it 
 refused positively to remain upon the machine. 
 She went home to her boarding-house, and as she 
 opened the door of her room the framed photo- 
 graph of her dead father fell to the floor, but was 
 uninjured. She rehung it ; and, as she turned 
 from it, a blue mug, bearing the words " Remem- 
 ber me," in gilt letters, flew from one side of the 
 mantelpiece to the other. She was not a very 
 observing person, but she could not remember ever 
 to have seen a mug perform just such a feat. She 
 returned to the shoeshop without telling any one 
 what had occurred, and found that nothing could 
 persuade her machine to take a stitch. She is not 
 sure, but she thinks she was a little pale when she 
 asked to go home because she was sick. She 
 wrote to her aunt, old Miss Kimball, who was the 
 only relative she had on this planet ; and al- 
 though she wrote the whole truth, she received an 
 answer by return mail to hasten to the ample 
 bosom of that aunt, who asked for no greater honor 
 than to have a blood relation a powerful medium.
 
 iO4 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Wholly unconscious of the honor that the praise 
 hid from her dull perceptions, Mandy left the city 
 of shoes and in time became one of the most won- 
 derful materializers of the present day. At first, it 
 is true, only hands or fingers appeared just above 
 the edge of the table, or faces, minus some 
 important feature, which to nervous, imaginative 
 audiences might have produced uneasiness; but 
 in old Miss Kimball's little parlor the audience at 
 first consisted only of Miss Kimball and faithful 
 Aunt Marthy. But, in time, so perfect were the 
 productions, that even Mandy herself could not tell 
 them from mortals ; and many a time a merry 
 ghost, that she herself had given visibility, came 
 and talked to her in the garden or at the market, 
 and when it suddenly dissolved she would say, 
 "Why, Aunt Kimball, that was a spirit !" 
 
 In spite of the most seductive accounts given her 
 by her honest aunt and old Miss Kimball, the Emma 
 Liz remained obstinately indifferent, and refused 
 even to accept a test which was freely offered her 
 daily. When the Emma Liz and the tug, as Thurs- 
 ton called Miss Holt and Miss Norton, went to the 
 guest-chamber occupied by Miss Norton, the bed 
 was piled high with finery of all colors, and the 
 sight of it seemed to add to the trouble, already 
 too plainly marked, in the face of the Emma Liz. 
 
 " I am all upset," she said brokenly. " I
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 105 
 
 have n't got anybody to talk to, and I am " 
 two great tears finished the sentence more elo- 
 quently than any words could have done. 
 
 Miss Norton took one of the girl's great hands 
 between her own small palms, and missing the 
 regard-ring which she had seen there for a long 
 time, said, " Come, Emma Liz, tell me all about it ; 
 I may be able to help you." 
 
 "It's it's all up with Joe and I," said the 
 Emma Liz, with a sob in her voice. 
 
 " Whose fault ? " demanded the swift little tug. 
 
 " Well, first he took Jane Parker to a stereop- 
 ticon show. She 's got black eyes. [The Emma 
 Liz had eyes like blue china.] I could have 
 forgot that, because Jane's brother gave him the 
 tickets, thinking he 'd take her ; but I said some- 
 thing hateful, and he but that ain't what I 
 wanted to talk about. I wanted to ask you if you 
 believed in Spiritualism? Do you remember one 
 day you called, and old Miss Kimball was sitting 
 by the kitchen fire? Now, Aunt Marthy thinks 
 she old Miss Kimball I mean is a great 
 medium, and I think she is an old fool. Why, 
 one day Aunt Marthy told her she didn't have 
 good luck at all this year with the bees, and Miss 
 Kimball said. ' I will find out what your husband 
 thinks is the trouble.' Then she sat down to 
 the table with Aunt Marthy ; and there they sat,
 
 io6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 and would have sat till morning (the lamp turned 
 down 'till it smelt like Tophet) if I had n't come in 
 from singing-school and stirred 'em up, by opening 
 the window with a slam and turning up the lamp. 
 
 " There was old Miss Kimball as sound asleep 
 as if she had been in her bed ; but they tried it 
 again, and Aunt Marthy said uncle came back and 
 told her to remember the Sunday she came home 
 and looked into the hive with her black crape 
 bonnet on. Bees could n't work if black crape 
 looked into the hive. Now, my Uncle Eben 
 would n't know the difference between a black 
 crape bonnet and a green gauze cap before he 
 died, and what chance has he had since to find 
 out ? I won't say anything about Aunt Marthy's 
 heart ; but her head is cracked since she began to 
 investigate. Since uncle died, if any old medium 
 should tell her to paint the hogs blue and yellow 
 because it would harmonize with the influences that 
 hung round the hog-pen, why, on would go the 
 blue and yellow paint ! I don't know what you 
 will think of me if I tell you that after all this talk 
 against them, I want to know if you believe Mrs. 
 Temple can tell anything wonderful that 's going 
 to happen." 
 
 Miss Norton looked for a moment into the 
 honest eyes of the unhappy Emma Liz, then said 
 softly, " I am a medium, come to me ; it will cost
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 107 
 
 you nothing, and I will not deceive you. I can 
 tell you the future." 
 
 " I did n't think you would make fun of me, Miss 
 Norton ; " and the girl's red lips trembled. 
 
 " Don't let us waste time ; you are unhappy, and 
 I want to help you. I wanted to ask you about 
 the fair at the town hall to-night. Thurston said 
 just as he was leaving this morning that everybody 
 would have to go. I forgot to ask what was the 
 object of the fair." 
 
 " What is it for ? It is to get money to buy 
 books for the town library. Ain't you going ? " 
 
 " Of course I 'm going. Thurston said every- 
 body must go : and I want you to go with me." 
 
 " I don't want to go," said the Emma Liz, fond- 
 ling some of the finery on the bed. " Is that Mr. 
 Hardy going ? How easy you make new friends, 
 Miss Norton ! " 
 
 " I like new friends and new clothes, Emma Liz ; 
 and I would like to throw both aside before I 
 discover any spots." 
 
 " Old clothes are the most comfortable, and I 
 like old friends best, whether they like me or not, " 
 and the tears came again in her bright blue eyes. 
 
 " Do you know," cried the tug, impatiently, " if 
 all the tears that silly girls have shed since the 
 world began for foolish men whom they could have 
 kept at their feet if they had only kept their eyes
 
 io8 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 bright and their noses white where was I ? Oh, 
 if they could only be collected, the tears, I mean, 
 and made into a great sea, it would cover the 
 earth, and you and I would have to choose between 
 being a mermaid or drowning. Now, if the Emma 
 Liz will take my advice, she will wipe off her decks, 
 shine up her brasses, and let fly all the bunting she 
 can raise, I have great faith in bunting, and 
 sail straight into the harbor of success." 
 
 " Lands sakes ! " gasped the Emma Liz, as the 
 tug wheeled her about to catch a breeze of inspira- 
 tion, " I don't know what you are talking about ! " 
 
 "Then farewell to metaphor, Miss Emma Liz; 
 here 's a plain statement : Go with me to-night in 
 the prettiest dress you can get, let me dress you ; 
 forget that there exists in nature such a creature 
 as Joe. Enjoy yourself, and everybody else. Let 
 Mr. Joe see you are not dependent on him for a 
 good time. Of course he will be there." 
 
 " He invited me to go ; but I have written him I 
 I can't. Now, could I go with you after that ? " 
 
 " Don't you prefer to go with me ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Always do as you prefer, when there is nothing 
 serious to prevent. You and Mr. Hardy, and 
 Thurston and I, will make a very amiable quartet. 
 Remember, I am to dress you. Employ no 
 medium but me ! "
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 109 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " \1 7ILL you do me a favor, Mr. Hardy?" Miss 
 
 V V Norton asked, taking me into a corner 
 after dinner. 
 
 " I will enter into no conspiracy," I said, think- 
 ing of Thurston and the masquerade party. 
 
 " It is hardly worthy of the name 'conspiracy,' " 
 she said, smiling. " I have invited the Emma Liz, 
 Miss Holt, I should say to go with me to the 
 fair to-night, and I want you to make yourself 
 conspicuously agreeable to her." 
 
 " ' Conspicuously agreeable,' " I repeated. From 
 the union of the two words, there was born in a 
 moment in my mind an endless train of possibili- 
 ties. " I am afraid I don't understand you, Miss 
 Norton." 
 
 " I feel as if I had no right to explain," she said 
 frankly; "and yet I have less right to ask a 
 decided favor of you." 
 
 " About the explanation, I cannot judge ; as to 
 the favor, you have but to command."
 
 no A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Then you will do as I ask you ? " 
 
 "What do you mean, be the conspicuously 
 agreeable ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " What will be my reward ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " she sighed, " is it possible you 
 never do good for the sake of the good ? " 
 
 " No, not yet ; I have just reached the stage 
 where I am willing to do good for a reward." 
 
 "You shall have it," she said quickly, "the 
 reward." 
 
 " But I may not be satisfied with what you call 
 a reward, Miss Norton ; we might call it a relative 
 term." 
 
 " But you shall be satisfied. You shall have a 
 reward, if it be the half of my kingdom." She 
 held out her hand, and as I took it I saw Thurston 
 come to the door ; he turned quickly away, but not 
 before I saw a look of something like terror in his 
 black eyes. Miss Norton stood with her back to 
 the door, and did not see him. 
 
 " Let me understand," I said, a little absently, 
 for I was thinking of Thurston. " I am to be con- 
 spicuously agreeable to the Emma Liz ; and if I 
 please to demand so much, I shall have the half of 
 your kingdom." 
 
 " Agreed," she said ; " and I am sure that what 
 you promise, you will do."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 1 1 
 
 Very soon after, Mrs. Moore, Maria Williams, 
 Mrs. Hardcreeder, and Thurston went to the town 
 hall. They were all engaged in one department 
 or another of the fair. At eight o'clock the car- 
 riage came back, and Miss Norton, the Emma Liz, 
 and I were driven down. When we reached the 
 hall. Miss Norton said, 
 
 "Remember, Miss Emma Liz, Mr. Hardy is 
 your cavalier for this evening; but he is a con- 
 valescent : do not forget this, and deal very gently 
 with him." 
 
 The Emma Liz blushed violently and looked 
 very uncomfortable, which was hardly flattering to 
 me; and I sincerely wished, as I offered her my 
 arm, that a more appreciative pilot was going to 
 take her in tow. She accepted my arm, standing 
 at such a distance from me I wondered if she had 
 heard of my fiend. I wanted to tell her to have no 
 alarm, as I grew more fastidious every hour, when 
 suddenly she said, 
 
 "Miss Norton has left us. See, there she is; 
 shall we follow her ? " 
 
 " Miss Norton seems to be quite indifferent to 
 us," I replied. " Let us go about, and see all there 
 is to be seen." 
 
 I had made up my mind to keep my promise to 
 the letter, and also to demand my reward in the 
 same literal manner. We crossed the hall to the
 
 H2 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 flower-stand, and I bought the largest bouquet there 
 and presented it to the Emma Liz. Poor Tom 
 Davenport ! 
 
 Next, we went to a large bower hung with paper 
 roses and Chinese lanterns, where we learned from 
 a huge placard that Rebekah from her well drew 
 cool lemonade for five cents a glass. We looked 
 between the swinging lanterns and the swaying 
 paper roses, and saw Rebekah ; and if Rebekah of 
 old was half as clever as this drawer of cool lemon- 
 ade, no wonder that the innocent old Isaac was 
 deceived by her, for as her eyes fell upon me, 
 they were the eyes of Consolation Temple. I 
 thought she looked coldly upon the Emma Liz, 
 who appeared to bear it very well ; but she shook 
 me warmly by the hand, and asked me if I had 
 seen the little Fate ladies. I told her I had seen 
 nothing as yet ; and she pointed to a corner, where 
 I saw only a crowd of people. 
 
 "Go, see them," she said sweetly; "and then 
 come back and tell me what you think of them." 
 
 We had to wait some time before we could get 
 near enough to see anything; but when I saw a 
 little break in the crowd, I told the Emma Liz to 
 bear down on them, and we were able after a few 
 minutes to get a sight of two tables. In the centre 
 of each table stood one of the infant protoplasts, 
 with a silver wand in her hand. One table was
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 113 
 
 for youths who desired to know their destinies; 
 the other for maidens. The tables were marked 
 off in squares, each square containing a little roll 
 of paper. The twins were blinded, and then with 
 their silver wands they pointed to a square ; and 
 there lay the fate of him, or her, who had paid to 
 know the future. 
 
 As we approached, I saw near the youths' table 
 a tall young man, with hair smoothed down like a 
 miniature peninsula on his forehead. He had just 
 paid to learn his fate ; but as he looked up and 
 saw us he became agitated and, after staring at me 
 as if I belonged to some unclassified species, turned 
 away, leaving his money at the feet of the infant 
 protoplast. I afterwards learned he was a grocer's 
 clerk, who had won the heart of the Emma Liz. 
 As he fled, she said to me, 
 
 " Mrs. Temple must have had a windfall by the 
 looks of the twins. Yesterday she was trying to 
 borrow a sash of me, but I hadn't any good 
 enough." 
 
 Could it be that the initiation fees of Calvin, 
 Sterne, Gray, and George Sand had helped to deck 
 the poor little Fate ladies, and would these gen- 
 iuses approve of the appropriation ? Why should 
 I feel responsible ? And yet when I thought of 
 the north point of my compass, the bright red 
 sashes of the poor little protoplasts seemed like
 
 ii4 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 belts of flame. I was sure at that same instant 
 that Calvin himself had put the idea into my mind, 
 and for some time I felt weary and depressed ; so 
 much so that my companion said kindly, 
 
 " You are having a horrid time, Mr. Hardy, and 
 you look tired half to death ; you better sit down 
 a little while. You know you ain't very strong 
 yet." 
 
 We wandered aimlessly about, but I was as 
 conspicuously agreeable all the time as I could 
 possibly be, and soon found ourselves again at 
 Rebekah's well. This time I noticed that Rebekah 
 had a handmaid, who dipped the beverage from 
 the evergreen covered tub and gave it to the 
 thirsty ones ; in fact, I noticed that the beautiful 
 Rebekah was not there for service. She could dis- 
 cern a thirsty camel at a good distance ; but when 
 it drew near, she handed it over to the untiring 
 little handmaiden, after she had received the price. 
 She made room for us to sit down even beside the 
 well ; but I had caught sight of Thurston and Miss 
 Norton. I saw that Thurston had started to come 
 towards us, but Miss Norton had prevented it with 
 a word. They turned, smiling, and walked an- 
 other way. I had believed that Thurston was 
 willing to keep me separated from Miss Norton ; 
 now I saw that it was she who desired to keep 
 Thurston from me. Perhaps she was not going
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 115 
 
 to wait until the masquerade party to "fathom 
 him." 
 
 " Let us go to the lemonade bower," I said, 
 " and sit down a few minutes. Do you suppose 
 Rebekah will offer us seats after we refused 
 them? " 
 
 " She won't be over and above anxious to sit me 
 down in the bower," said the Emma Liz, with a 
 short laugh. " She was sweet enough to me this 
 morning, when she wanted to get something of me, 
 but to-night she is sour as a lemon. She only 
 cares for the farmhouse when the big house won't 
 take her in. Do you think she is a handsome 
 woman ? " 
 
 " Yes, very handsome," I answered, without 
 hesitation. 
 
 " Land, Mr. Hardy, you don't ! Why, she is as 
 wicked as Satan." 
 
 " Then you don't think the devil's beauty 
 counts, Miss Emma Liz?" 
 
 " No, I don't," she said firmly ; " and if you 
 think Mrs. Temple is a beauty, I am sorry for 
 you." 
 
 " Why ? " I asked, much amused. 
 
 " Because she will take you in." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 " Ask Thurston about the half eye-glass man." 
 
 " Won't you tell me about him ? "
 
 n6 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " And you really would not advise our taking 
 seats in the lemonade bower ? " 
 
 " We had better go sit down with Mrs. Williams, 
 I think; we have not been near her table yet. 
 There is Mrs. Moore beckoning to us now." 
 
 We made our way with some difficulty to a table 
 where Mrs. Moore and her sister-in-law were sell- 
 ing things, which Mrs. Moore herself admitted 
 were made for no purpose except to sell. At the 
 table I found the charming Miss Barry, who sold 
 me some infants' shoes made of silk, which she de- 
 clared was the latest design for tobacco pouches. 
 Thurston told me afterward that even his mother 
 would lie at a fair held to put good, moral reading 
 into the town library. Mrs. Moore asked the 
 Emma Liz to take her place at the table while she 
 walked about with me, and that young lady agreed 
 as quickly as if I had been the most tiresome of 
 escorts ; but I had made up my mind to be as con- 
 spicuous as possible, and told Mrs. Moore that 
 the young lady had been put in my care by Miss 
 Norton, and I could not deliver her into any other 
 hands. Mrs. Moore smiled a faint little smile, and 
 the Emma Liz and I sailed on once more. 
 
 When we passed Rebekah again, I was surprised 
 to see a young man sitting beside her, whom I re- 
 cognized immediately as Dwight Salem. Could it
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 1 7 
 
 be for this he had come to the fair ? As well as I 
 knew him, I could not believe that I saw aright, 
 and asked who it was talking with Mrs. Temple. 
 
 The Emma Liz gave a disdainful little grunt. 
 " That is the one I meant, the half eye-glass fellow. 
 I think somebody ought to take care of him. I 
 told Thurston so one day, but he only laughed. 
 That Consolation Temple has got a rope round 
 the little fellow's neck, and she can lead him any- 
 where she likes ; and he belongs to that great 
 Salem family, one of the best families in Boston, 
 ' truly bluely blood,' Thurston says. Now, ain't 
 it too bad ? Oh, it makes me sick ! I want to 
 open his eyes. I wish he 'd get a whole pair of 
 glasses, then perhaps he would see something." 
 
 " I doubt if he saw any more," said I. 
 
 " Do you know him ? " she asked in surprise. 
 
 Well yes." 
 
 " It is true, all the same, what I have said," she 
 continued, after a pause. " Why don't you tell 
 him just what she is ? " 
 
 " I don't know just what she is." 
 
 " It 's nothing to me, nothing ; only I hate to see 
 any one made a fool of. To-day, when I was up in 
 Miss Norton's room, I saw you in the garden with 
 that woman, and I told Miss Norton I thought it 
 was her duty to go tell you what she was ; but she 
 said you wasn 't the kind that got hurt, and if Con-
 
 n8 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 solation Temple got a few dollars, it would n't 
 hurt you any, you had plenty of them. I never 
 saw anybody like Miss Norton, did you ? " 
 
 " No, I don't think I ever did," I replied. Was 
 it possible that Miss Norton did not know that 
 now I was penniless ? 
 
 We had taken seats on a settee not far from the 
 lemonade bower. It was not as conspicuous per- 
 haps as Miss Norton had desired, but it was the 
 only resting-place we could find ; and I thought if 
 I told her my legs were failing me, she would par- 
 don it. When we sat down, I saw the same young 
 man I had seen at the fate table watching us, and 
 I asked the Emma Liz if she knew him. 
 
 " Yes," she said coldly ; " it 's Joe Barker." 
 
 " Have you noticed," I asked, "how much inter- 
 est he appears to take in us ? " 
 
 " Does he ? " she returned, indifferently ; but a 
 moment after I saw that her round eyes looked 
 troubled. 
 
 " I have an intuitive feeling that that fellow 
 does n't like me, Miss Emma Liz." 
 
 " Why ? " She was blushing a little. 
 
 " I don't know, but I don't like the way he looks 
 at me. " Who is he ? " 
 
 She laughed nervously, and said he was in 
 Perkins's grocery store. 
 
 " I suppose he could balance a barrel of flour in
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 119 
 
 one hand, and a barrel of molasses in the other, 
 with ease ? " 
 
 " He is very strong," she said simply. 
 
 " Does he admire you ? " 
 
 She hesitated a moment, then said quietly, 
 " No." 
 
 " I am very glad ; I don't like the way he looks 
 at me, for I am not quite equal yet to meeting a 
 man who can wield a barrel of flour as easily as I 
 could a loaf of bread." 
 
 " I don't see any reason why you should make 
 fun of him." She spoke a little sharply. 
 
 " I make fun of him ! I beg of you don't start 
 any such report as that ; and present me to him, 
 please, that I may make friends with him 
 immediately." 
 
 " No ! I can't do that, Mr. Hardy, because we 
 don't speak now. Never mind about him ; look at 
 Mrs. Temple and her little fop." 
 
 I had in truth been giving but a small part of 
 my thoughts to my companion ; for in spite of my 
 dislike to D wight Salem, my respect for his sister 
 had forced me to take notice of him and the fair 
 Rebekah. She had yielded now even the taking 
 of the price to her little handmaiden, and sat in 
 the centre of the bower, with Dwight Salem beside 
 her ; but I saw that her attention was divided, and 
 thought the greater share was bestowed upon a
 
 1 20 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 large man who leaned against the bower on the 
 outside than upon the dainty little man beside her. 
 
 "I am sure, Miss Emma Liz," I said, "that 
 even with your strong prejudice you must admit 
 that Rebekah is looking remarkably handsome this 
 evening." 
 
 " Not to my eyes," she said savagely. 
 
 " I don't like to see any one so young as you so 
 blinded by prejudice," I said gently, watching her 
 face, which I thought for the moment was almost 
 pretty. Either from heat or fatigue, she had 
 seemed to grow paler and paler ; the bright red in 
 her cheeks had faded entirely away, and a sad 
 look had come to her eyes. 
 
 " I don't care what you call it," she said ; " but 
 if I saw a great tiger coming slowly along, just 
 looking out of his eyes on one side, then on the 
 other, for something to devour, I would n't care 
 how handsome he was : the sooner I saw him 
 shot, and his fine skin torn off of him, the better I 'd 
 like it. I suppose it would be more artistic to 
 admire him, and praise his eyes, and say his teeth 
 were beautiful ; but I ain't artistic. I 'd take a 
 double-barrel gun and shoot him anywhere, and 
 not mind tearing his fine skin neither. You may 
 laugh ; but you wait : you see if there ain't trouble 
 for somebody ! " She turned as she spoke, look- 
 ing me straight in the face.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 121 
 
 " Who is that large man ? " I asked. 
 
 " I don't know his name," she replied indiffer- 
 ently, burying her nose in her bouquet. 
 
 " That is Ebenezer Samson," said a voice behind 
 us; and looking up, we saw Thurston Moore. 
 
 " Truly, this is the first time since you came 
 into the hall," he said, " that I could get near you. 
 Clara has seemed almost determined that I should 
 not speak to you." 
 
 " He appeared to bear the separation well," 
 said I. " Don't you think so, Miss Emma Liz?" 
 
 " He bore it like a major," she returned laugh- 
 ing; but suddenly her face grew serious again, 
 and she said in low tone to Thurston, " Is that 
 little half eye-glass man a friend of yours ? " 
 
 " No," said Thurston, " only an acquaintance ; 
 he is a friend of Mr. Hardy's." 
 
 " His sister and mine are warm friends," I 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " Don't either of you seem very fond of him," 
 she murmured, looking towards the bower. 
 
 " Don't worry about him," said Thurston. " He 
 is only making a study of Rebekah. The only 
 harm she could do would be to pick his pockets, 
 and he has money enough." , 
 
 Surely, to watch D wight Salem one would not 
 think him in much danger. He sat listlessly look- 
 ing out between the swinging lanterns, some-
 
 122 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 times speaking to the large man outside, some- 
 times adjusting his monocle and looking about the 
 hall; never was he apparently absorbed in the 
 fair Rebekah. I was puzzled as I watched him. 
 
 At ten o'clock the hall was cleared for dancing. 
 I did not dance, owing to the shakiness of my 
 legs ; but, in spite of every hindrance put in my 
 way by Thurston, I devoted myself entirely to the 
 Emma Liz. I kept her card full, and even held 
 her big bouquet while she danced with more for- 
 tunate men. 
 
 Among the dancers was Consolation Temple ; I 
 thought she looked even handsomer in her well- 
 fitting dark gown than she had looked in the 
 bright costume of Rebekah. She danced a few 
 times, but Dwight Salem did not dance at all. I 
 was surprised, and told him so as he took a seat 
 beside me. 
 
 " Gweat bowe," he drawled. " I am Miss 
 Bawwy's guest. She is counting up hew money ; 
 she is devilish neah becoming a misah. I hate 
 misahs, but she is the only lady heah I would 
 dance with." 
 
 " Rebekah is dancing," I observed. 
 
 ^ Webekah ? Oh, yes, Mrs. Temple. Fine 
 woman. Whewe 's your wustic beauty ? I nevew 
 should have looked fow you in a cornah with a 
 wustic beauty."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 123 
 
 " You don't always find people where you look 
 for them," I returned, trying to conceal the irrita- 
 tion his words had caused. 
 
 " That 's twue, that 's twue," he said, a little 
 absently. " The devil is the only one who always 
 knows just whewe to find a man." 
 
 It did not seem to me possible that it was 
 Dwight Salem who spoke. As he saw Thurston 
 coming with Miss Norton, he arose and walked 
 slowly away. I did not see him again that night. 
 
 I was glad enough when Miss Norton said, 
 " We are going home, Mr. Hardy, as soon as this 
 waltz is over." 
 
 In a moment she was whirling away, with 
 Thurston's arm about her waist ; and I could not 
 help thinking bitterly that she was enjoying the 
 " fathoming." 
 
 As we drove home, Mrs. Hardcreeder, Miss 
 Norton, the Emma Liz and I, for Mrs. Moore 
 and Thurston were obliged to wait an hour later, 
 the Emma Liz said, 
 
 " Mr. Hardy, did you see poor Mr. Temple 
 trying to wake up the twins ? Poor little things ! 
 They fell asleep on the table, and there your hand- 
 some Rebekah left them while she went away to 
 dance. Ugh! how I despise her! Handsome! 
 And I don't think much more of her husband ; he 
 don't know enough to go in when it rains."
 
 124 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " But he does know that a protoplast could roll 
 off a table," said Miss Norton; "and he put the 
 poor things on a settee. I know they must have 
 been tired and cross ; but they did not cry when 
 he moved them, although Thurston said he lifted 
 them by their heads. I never heard them cry. Did 
 you, Miss Emma Liz ? " 
 
 " Cry ? No ! you 'd have to put them in vine- 
 gar half the time to see if they was alive," said the 
 Emma Liz, scornfully. 
 
 "Poor babes!" sighed Mrs. Hardcreeder; "it 
 seems a pity they could not be adopted by some 
 Christian family. They are not to blame." 
 
 " I wonder what Consolation would say to that 
 idea ! " exclaimed Miss Norton. " She considers 
 herself about one hundred years in advance of 
 most Christians." 
 
 " Perhaps she is," said Mrs. Hardcreeder ; " but 
 I believe we ought to have asylums for people who 
 are as far advanced as that." 
 
 " Then we ought to have asylums for those 
 people who are as far behind the times," said 
 Miss Norton. 
 
 "Don't build too many," I begged, "for we 
 should ourselves be sure to be found fitted for one 
 of them." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Miss Norton; "we four would 
 be a special committee to decide who should be
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 125 
 
 forced to retire, and which asylum they should 
 enter." 
 
 " I was in earnest in what I said," Mrs. Hard- 
 creeder remarked coldly. 
 
 " I don't believe, if we could, there is one of us 
 that would shut a person up," said Miss Norton, 
 " brave as we are to talk." 
 
 " We are talking idly," said Mrs. Hardcreeder ; 
 and every one was silent until we reached The 
 Poplars and stopped at the farmhouse to leave 
 the Emma Liz. I went with her to the door, and 
 as I turned to leave she said in a low tone, 
 
 " I thank you for your politeness to me to-night, 
 Mr. Hardy, although I can't understand it. Good 
 night, sir." 
 
 There was a native dignity in her tone which I 
 had not noticed before, and something which 
 made me feel that however courteous I had been, 
 my conduct had been marred by something. Was 
 it condescension ?
 
 126 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE next day I met Miss Norton coming from 
 the farmhouse. She looked very pretty, and 
 I thought quite happy. 
 
 " It is all right," she whispered, " and all owing 
 to your being conspicuously agreeable." 
 
 " I don't consider myself a very curious man ; 
 but as it is all owing to anything I have done, I 
 feel as if I had a right to ask, What is all right? " 
 
 " The Emma Liz and her affairs. Oh ! I believe 
 we owe a great deal to that big bouquet ! That 
 was an inspiration ! " 
 
 " Yes," I said vaguely, " that was an in- 
 spiration ! " 
 
 " Did you see him following you about ? Some- 
 times I was afraid he would hurt you, and you 
 looked so ill." 
 
 " Do you mean Perkins' clerk ? " 
 
 " Yes, 1 mean poor Joe Barker. I think if you 
 had danced with the Emma Liz, he would have 
 killed you ! " she cried, sitting down upon a bank 
 and laughing merrily. But it is all right now ;
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 127 
 
 he was at the farmhouse before breakfast this 
 morning. It is all right, and I am so glad, and 
 here we are laughing at them." 
 
 " You will be good enough not to include me, 
 Miss Norton. I am not laughing." 
 
 " You did keep your promise faithfully ; but do 
 you suppose it was no effort for me to keep 
 Thurston from you and pacify Mrs. Moore when 
 between sales she looked to find you always bored? 
 But, tell me, did n't the Emma Liz look pretty ? 
 And are n't you glad to know that anybody is 
 happy in this miserable I mean this delightful 
 world ? " 
 
 " You are quite sure somebody is happy ? " 
 
 " You should see the Emma Liz ! Dear, faith- 
 ful girl, it cut her to the heart to see poor Joe so 
 wretched last night; and she would have been glad 
 to go home, glad to do anything to spare him 
 the pain of seeing her in such fine company ; but 
 she promised to obey me during the evening, and 
 she kept her word. To-day she is all gratitude ; 
 and you, and Thurston and I shall all dance at the 
 wedding ! " 
 
 " And my reward ? " I said humbly. 
 
 " Your reward ? Why, go look at them ! " 
 
 " The promise was the half of your kingdom, I 
 thought." 
 
 " Certainly," she said with a funny little laugh, 
 " if you demanded it."
 
 128 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " I do demand it, Miss Norton." 
 
 " Which half will you have ? " 
 
 " The only half that you have any right to 
 give." 
 
 " I must give up your riddle, Mr. Hardy. You 
 must name your reward if you hope to receive it." 
 
 " Then I must put it in very plain terms. Every 
 woman's kingdom is divided into two territories : 
 one she has the right to bestow wherever she will ; 
 the other gives itself wherever it chooses. Her 
 kingdom is her heart and her hand. I have kept 
 my promise. I claim my reward." 
 
 I had composed this little declaration while I 
 was walking with the Emma Liz at the fair. I 
 had admired it then as much as any modest man 
 could admire his own production ; but as I 
 repeated it now, looking down into the frank, 
 handsome face before me, it sounded more foolish 
 than brilliant. But I satisfied myself with the 
 mental comment that there was no affectation of 
 any passion I* did not feel, nor any expectation of 
 any from any quarter. From the moment I drove 
 the face of Jeannette Carlton from my thoughts, I 
 had determined to marry a woman with money ; 
 but one who could claim no sentiment from me, 
 and from whom I asked none. Where could 1 
 find one so perfectly adapted to my idea as Miss 
 Norton ?
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 129 
 
 She looked at me for a moment, then said 
 smiling, " Am I very dull ? I do not understand 
 you." 
 
 " I ask for the half of your kingdom that you 
 have a right to bestow," I said coolly. 
 
 She was not proud and calm, like Dora Salem. 
 I could read her thoughts in her frank eyes as 
 plainly as I could see the blood as it came and 
 deepened the color in her cheeks, and then left 
 them cold and white ; but she did not speak. I 
 began to grow alarmed when she said, suddenly, 
 with a faint smile, 
 
 " Take it, it is a fitting hand for you ! " 
 
 I took the hand she held out impulsively towards 
 me, and drawing it within my arm without a word, 
 we walked into the garden. She was the first to 
 speak. With a little catch of her breath she 
 said, 
 
 " For a moment I thought we were in earnest, 
 Mr. Hardy." 
 
 " I am in earnest, I assure you." 
 
 " Why do you ask the hand of such as I, John 
 Hardy? You are rich." 
 
 She had seated herself in the very place where I 
 had sat and dreamed of Jeannette Carlton, and 
 later sat with Consolation Temple and chosen my 
 four guides. She raised her face, and looked me 
 in the eyes as I stood before her. 
 9
 
 130 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You are mistaken, Miss Norton ; I am a poor 
 man. I did not intend to deceive you ; it is a fact 
 I was egotistic enough to imagine that everybody 
 knew." 
 
 " I begin to understand," she said, a crimson 
 tide flooding her fair face and neck. " Let us not 
 give each other credit for a sensibility far too fine 
 for souls like ours. You are Theodore Hardy's 
 son, that would satisfy my mother," she spoke 
 gently; "but you, John Hardy, you But let 
 us meet like two traders, as we are." 
 
 The color had died out of her face, leaving it 
 whiter than before. 
 
 "I did not know that you were a poor man," 
 she continued, with a slight effort. " I supposed at 
 first that this was only a joke to punish me for last 
 evening. But we are both in earnest, and ask 
 only for fair dealing." 
 
 As she had said, we were simply two traders, 
 and not unlike many matrimonial traders I had 
 known, with the exception that we were honest ; 
 and I said, " We at least can respect each other 
 for honesty." 
 
 " Honesty ! " she exclaimed ; " it is the last qual- 
 ity any one should respect me for ! There is noth- 
 ing to respect in me except that I am so made that 
 I cannot be ungrateful. But a man who has the 
 world before him, to bind himself to a woman he
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 131 
 
 does not love, for money! But if God lets him 
 live, I cannot dispute his right to existence ! " 
 
 " No, that is the way I look at it," I said, 
 calmly ; " and I hoped you would regard me as 
 you pretended you would at first, simply as an 
 honest trader." 
 
 " And a very courteous one," she said, smiling a 
 little. 
 
 " Then you do not withdraw from the the 
 contract? " 
 
 " Not at all," she replied quietly, " only do not 
 publish it quite yet. We can be friends just the 
 same, can we not ? " 
 
 " I hope so," I said earnestly and honestly. 
 
 It seemed to be tacitly understood that there 
 was no haste in announcing an event which would 
 bring no pleasure to anybody unless it might be 
 Mrs. Norton. When I thought of Nanny, I 
 almost trembled in my shoes. Yet would she not 
 have been willing that I should, in the same man- 
 ner, demean myself and a woman for whom we 
 both had the greatest respect ? 
 
 When I saw Thurston, I appeared so much de- 
 pressed that I felt obliged to account for it in some 
 way, and told him I feared only my north-point 
 guide was active, and I wished I could see Conso- 
 lation that I might learn if the others had accepted 
 my offer.
 
 132 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You were a fool to take Calvin at all," said he. 
 "The north wind doth blow and we shall have 
 snow, and what will poor Hardy do then ? " 
 
 " He will hie him to Sterne, where all of us 
 learn God tempers the wind to the shorn lambkin, 
 if the gay Laurence has not refused me." 
 
 " He can't refuse you ; Consolation will manage 
 that. She is up on the hill now behind the farm- 
 house, waiting to see Aunt Susannah depart. Go 
 up there ; it is warm and pleasant, and perhaps 
 she will give you a private sitting under the blue 
 arch by the purling brook. I am going to drive 
 Aunt Susannah to the station, and I will go up there 
 when I come back ; and I will make her pony up 
 on her guides, if she has n't done it." 
 
 I went to the hill, but saw nothing of Consola- 
 tion : and finding the air most agreeable, I walked 
 on, soon forgetting what I came for in the enjoy- 
 ment of the beauty around me. 
 
 After walking a mile, I came suddenly upon a 
 pretty knoll covered with young pine trees. Hear- 
 ing voices below, I looked down and saw a woman 
 sitting upon a bright-colored shawl, and a man 
 standing near her. 
 
 By looking through the trees, I could see them 
 distinctly, and had no difficulty in recognizing 
 them. They were Consolation Temple and Ebe- 
 nezer Samson. I do not know how I found myself
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 133 
 
 able to listen to their words without feeling like an 
 eaves-dropper ; but as I intend to hide nothing in 
 these pages, I must say that I placed myself in the 
 most comfortable position possible to listen. 
 
 " You don't think so," Samson was saying in a 
 round, sonorous voice. 
 
 " No," said Consolation, and her tone was more 
 natural than I had ever heard it, " I do not think 
 so." 
 
 " You are trying to play your hand alone, Con- 
 solation," he said, bending his shaggy head until 
 his eyes came on a line with hers : " we are part- 
 ners still." 
 
 " What do you want? " she demanded coldly. 
 
 "Just what you want, money." 
 
 " I cannot get it." 
 
 " You must" 
 
 " Not from him." 
 
 "Yes, from him." 
 
 " You used to give me credit for knowing what 
 I could do." 
 
 " You are wasting your powers, or you are work- 
 ing for yourself alone." 
 
 " That hardly accords with your past boasts, 
 Samson." 
 
 " I understand ; but do you suppose I believe 
 your will is always mine from choice ? Not at all ; 
 nor do I care, so long as it is mine. You can get
 
 134 ^ Fearless Investigator. 
 
 ten thousand dollars for us in a week, if you are 
 half as clever as you once were." 
 
 " In the first place, you have certainly made a 
 mistake," she said measuredly ; " you have counted 
 on dealing with a man who has but one passion." 
 
 " Oh, I have made a mistake, have I ? " he said 
 jocosely. " Perhaps my pupil will teach me to 
 read." 
 
 " Pupils have been known to surpass their mas- 
 ters," she said in a hard tone. 
 
 " That is where the pupil in youth had the ad- 
 vantage of the master's experience, and was not a 
 woman." 
 
 " A pupil who was not a woman would be of 
 great advantage to you now." 
 
 " That 's like a woman's arguing. So you think 
 I have made a mistake, and am reckoning on little 
 Salem's one passion ? I am making no mistake, 
 and I am reckoning on dealing with a man with 
 one passion." 
 
 " And that is " she leaned towards him, as if 
 to meet his answer half way. 
 
 " Pride," he said; "p-r-i-d-e, pride? 
 
 She leaned back again with a sigh : " Ah, we do 
 still think alike." 
 
 " Yes, with this difference : time will never teach 
 you that my mind is always right, while I never 
 lose confidence in yours. This is because your
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 135 
 
 mind belongs to me. If I believed that our minds 
 would always exist, I should believe that yours 
 would always be governed by mine." 
 
 " Influenced" she suggested, " would be a better 
 word." 
 
 " Choose your own expression, the fact remains 
 the same. For a short time you may try to act 
 independently of me ; it will cause me inconven- 
 ience, do you no good, and the end will be as it 
 has always been before." 
 
 " I am hiding nothing from you ; you have made 
 a mistake, that is all." 
 
 " Let it go at that," he said good-naturedly. " I 
 ask you to bear in mind the one fact that we are 
 out of money. Temple needs new clothes. He 
 ought to give up lecturing and take students." 
 "In what, should you advise? " 
 " God knows what, anything. I have been 
 telling him for two years to start classes in some- 
 thing. Comparative protoplasm, although I don't 
 know what in the deuce that means ; but if people 
 called me Old Protoplasm, I 'd make some money 
 out of it." 
 
 " Emmanuel is a materialist ; what can he do 
 here ? " 
 
 " So much the better. This metaphysical wave 
 which is sweeping over us now must meet many 
 that it cannot carry. Just let Temple go along, in
 
 136 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 his pokey way, and form them into classes. Let 
 them come with their little note books, and study 
 atoms, molecules, protoplasm, apes, and them- 
 selves, in twelve or twenty lessons, just as the 
 metaphysical students fill notebooks, boring into 
 the mighty attributes of the tangibility of the 
 intangible." 
 
 " He knows Tyndall and Huxley as well as I 
 know Byron and Shakespeare," said Consolation ; 
 " but he has so little assurance." 
 
 "Holy Hannah and kneeling Samuel! What 
 man could 'have assurance in a coat that outshone 
 a rosewood casket, and a vest that had dropped 
 half its buttons in the contribution-box, and 
 breeches that Consolation, where didhe get those 
 breeches ? " 
 
 " He was hired to lecture in a lyceum course 
 down in Maine somewhere," Consolation replied 
 coldly, " and the people in the town got the idea 
 that he was a celebrated ventriloquist, and when 
 he began his lecture they made a great deal of 
 noise, and he was forced to stop, and the people 
 demanded their money back, and the committee 
 refused to pay him ; but one of them let him have 
 those pantaloons and a cardigan jacket, and paid 
 his expenses. Little enough, I think, for he was a 
 long time preparing the lecture ; but he says the 
 man was very honorable, and when he gets his
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 137 
 
 book published he shall pay for the jacket, but the 
 lecture was worth the pantaloons." 
 
 Mr. Samson put back his head and laughed loud 
 enough to be heard a mile away. After what 
 sounded like a few sobs he gasped, 
 
 "He must take them off." 
 
 " And go without any ! " Consolation demanded 
 sharply. 
 
 " You have too much imagination and too little 
 mind, my dear Mrs. Temple. Tell him to ask 
 Thurston Moore to take him to his tailor. Of 
 course Moore could not refuse, and Temple will 
 pay when he can. I have been thinking a good 
 deal about him lately; he might just as well be 
 making some money, if we could only make him 
 the fashion. I told you six months ago he must 
 cut his hair : long-haired men have gone by. I 
 think if he wore gold-bowed spectacles they would 
 look well on him. Anyway, you must cut his 
 hair. I knew a man once who was taken for a 
 genius by half the people who met him ; and when 
 I came to look into the matter, I found it was sim- 
 ply because his hair stood up." 
 
 " Emmanuel can wear gold glasses, but he can- 
 not make his hair stand up." 
 
 " Yes, he can. This man took a room in a hotel 
 one night out West with me, and I discovered the 
 secret : he wore a round comb to bed every night."
 
 138 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " I wonder if Emmanuel would." 
 
 " Of course he would if we told him he must. 
 A man who gives such attention to details in the 
 scientific world must learn that he cannot scorn 
 details in the social world. But if you do your 
 duty by us, we shall not need gold-bowed specta- 
 cles, round combs, nor classes for our daily bread. 
 You know my ideas: it would not be unjust for us 
 to waylay young Salem and take half his money 
 from him, but it would be unwise. Better that he 
 should give it to us." 
 
 " But you do have faith in the classes ? " 
 
 " I am going to start some myself on much less 
 capital than Temple has." 
 
 " You underrate your strength." 
 
 "When Samson underrates his strength, let the 
 Philistines beware all the same ! I have already a 
 few pupils in psychology and pneumatology. If I 
 had half your imagination, I would agree to sell 
 corner lots in Jupiter and Saturn without so much 
 as a plan or a photograph." 
 
 " Speaking of photographs," she said, " I have 
 been promised a drawing of one of the domestic 
 animals in the planet Venus, yes, I think it was 
 Venus, and I thought we might have it photo- 
 graphed, and sell copies to Spiritualists." 
 
 " You are sure your medium is trustworthy? It 
 might go hard with her if she should ever sojourn
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 139 
 
 that way, if she had given us a drawing of one of 
 the inhabitants, and it was exhibited here as a 
 domestic animal. But we can't have too many 
 irons in the fire. By the way, have you any money 
 now ? " 
 
 "N' no." 
 
 " Two n's in one no is the same as a double neg- 
 ative, which equals an affirmative. Your answer 
 \s_yes. How much? " 
 
 " I have five dollars ; but the children need 
 shoes." 
 
 " I am quite out ; give it to me. I will see to 
 the shoes, not to-day, nor to-morrow, for Maria 
 Williams has her eye on their old boots ; you see 
 if you don't get a pair to-day. Did I ever refuse 
 you money when I had any?" 
 
 " No," she said shortly. 
 
 " Well, let 's have it." 
 
 " I will let you have half ; I told Emmanuel I 
 had it." 
 
 " I '11 ask him about it. Hi, there, Temple ! " 
 and I discovered that near by, under a tree, Old 
 Protoplasm was asleep. 
 
 "No," she said quickly, "don't waken him, 
 he would give you all. Give me two dollars, and I 
 will give you the five." 
 
 " Do you suppose I have made two dollars since 
 I told you I had none ? You are well housed here,
 
 140 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 and have enough to eat while you see which way 
 to turn. I have nothing." 
 
 She gave him the five dollars. 
 
 " Where did you get it ? " he asked, as he thrust 
 it into his vest pocket. 
 
 " From Mr. Hardy." 
 
 " Let him alone; he is as poor as we are. Why 
 did you give me to understand that this was in one 
 bill, just to see if 1 had lied to you ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, I did ; but I have little enough now. So 
 you thought John Hardy was rich ? Did you 
 make him a member of the K. and L. S. F. ? " 
 
 " That is where I got that money." 
 
 " Moses ! You did n't play that on him ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you mean did he join. You scoff at 
 the idea because you cannot comprehend it." 
 
 " What do you suppose he thought ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 "Come, can't you have some idea? Did he 
 take it as a joke ? Did he laugh ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then he is a fool. Always avoid a poor fool, 
 Consolation." 
 
 Never had I felt the loss of money as I felt it at 
 that moment. 
 
 " I like him," she said ; " and sometimes he 
 reminds me of you when he is talking."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 141 
 
 He put back his head and laughed again. 
 " Don't waste any time on Mr. Hardy. I must go 
 now. Get back to the mansion to-night if pos- 
 sible ; you look out of place at the farmhouse. 
 And remember that Emma Liz is no idiot. Salem 
 is coming to see you to-day. I told him it was all 
 right to call at the farmhouse. Good-bye ; I shall 
 go back to the city to-night. Say good-bye to 
 Temple." 
 
 I expected that he would walk in my direction, 
 but made up my mind that I would better be found 
 there than running away, so remained quiet ; but 
 he went quite in the opposite direction. After a 
 few minutes I called to Mrs. Temple to know if I 
 could approach. 
 
 She came to the top of the knoll and said, " Are 
 you alone ? " 
 
 "Yes," I replied, "alone and lost. Just as 
 you appear to be." 
 
 " Emmanuel is over there," she said ; " but how 
 does it happen that you are alone ? Is it quite 
 safe for you to walk so far ? We are a mile from 
 The Poplars." 
 
 After each sentence she let her eyes fall upon 
 me, and the usual shiver went down my spine. I 
 did not like it, and wondered how Dwight Salem 
 could. 
 
 " I came out to find you," I said. " Thurston
 
 142 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 thought you were on the hill back of the farmhouse. 
 I went there first, then roamed about, and my good 
 star sent me here. I am anxious to know if you 
 have heard from my points of compass." 
 
 She led the way back to the bright shawl, and 
 asked me to take a part of it, as the ground might 
 be damp. I thought it safer to sit at a little dis- 
 tance, where the trees had not shaded the ground 
 from the sun. She brought the shawl to me, and 
 insisted that I should sit upon it. I was obliged 
 then to insist upon her sharing it. 
 
 In the sunlight, Consolation Temple did not ap- 
 pear to advantage. The pallor that made her look 
 delicate and spiritual by gaslight assumed a yel- 
 low, unhealthful tint in the bright light of the 
 morning. I wondered if D wight Salem had ever 
 seen her by daylight. 
 
 " You have been anxious to hear from your 
 guides," she said. " You were anxious to see me, 
 but I have been more anxious to see you, for I had 
 it on my mind that I had promised to learn as 
 soon as possible what they thought of your 
 generosity." 
 
 " Do not mention my generosity, but their con- 
 descension, my dear madam." 
 
 " I repeat it," she said softly, " your gener- 
 osity. But I regret that I did not let you make 
 your selection quite uninfluenced by me."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 143 
 
 " And why ? " I exclaimed. " I find no fault if 
 they do not." 
 
 " Are you a Spiritualist, Mr. Hardy ? " 
 
 " Not exactly." 
 
 " Did you ever see a perfectly materialized 
 spirit ? " 
 
 " No, Mrs. Temple, never." 
 
 " Should you be afraid if you awoke and found 
 one by your bedside ? " 
 
 " Madam, if such should be my fate, I think my 
 immortal soul would receive such a chill that a seat 
 at Pluto's private fireside would never thaw me out 
 sufficiently to remember what sent me there." 
 
 " You are mistaken," she said gently. " I have 
 no such fear, why should you have ? Let me tell 
 you what happened. I have told it to no one. 
 Last night the farmhouse was very full ; Emmanuel 
 and the babes were obliged to sleep upon sofas in 
 the sitting-room. I was obliged to room with Mrs. 
 Litchfield, a friend of Mrs. Holt a very, very 
 ordinary woman, but a wonderful medium ; very 
 common in expression, but a marvellous mate- 
 rializer. When we went up stairs, she said to me 
 that sometimes after she went to sleep, spirits 
 came and materialized, and went off and returned 
 when they pleased ; that there was a woman with 
 a man's name who had been bothering her all day 
 to come and see me. She asked me if I should be
 
 144 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 frightened if she came. I said I thought that was 
 a strange question to ask a woman who had been 
 in communication with the spirit world from her 
 childhood. 
 
 " ' Oh, yes, rapping and writing,' she said ; ' but 
 it is quite another thing to see them stand up in 
 their very bones, and look as much alive as you do. 
 The first one I saw I almost fainted away from 
 sheer scare ; ' yes, that was her expression, Mr. 
 Hardy, ' sheer scare.' Said I, ' You are unworthy 
 of the great honor that Heaven has bestowed upon 
 you.' ' I don't mind it now,' she said; 'I could 
 sleep if the room was full of them. I only wanted 
 to warn you that you might have a visitor.' " 
 
 " Did you honestly see anything, Mrs. Temple ? " 
 I exclaimed. 
 
 " Listen. She went to sleep, and in a few min- 
 utes I heard a whisper, at first very low, then 
 louder, until the voice was perfectly distinct. It 
 spoke English, with a strong French accent." 
 
 " Mrs. Temple, don't miss a detail , I believe it 
 all," I murmured. She smiled and continued : 
 
 " I had left the lamp burning, and I saw every- 
 thing in the room as distinctly as I see you now. 
 At first I saw no one, but heard a voice say, 
 ' Consolation, Consolation, Consolation,' three 
 times. It came from a large chair which stood at 
 the head of the bed. I turned my eyes towards it
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 145 
 
 and said, ' You are welcome, whoever you are ; ' 
 and immediately I saw the outline of a woman in 
 the chair, and slowly it filled out until it became a 
 perfect face and form ; the face and form of 
 George Sand ! " 
 
 " Had she come to accept, or refuse ? " I in- 
 quired anxiously. 
 
 " She asked to be your guide alone. ' Give him 
 to me,' she said and the whole room vibrated as 
 she spoke. ' I will be his guide alone, or not at 
 all. Can I not be East, West, North, or South, as 
 I will ? ' " 
 
 "Are you giving me her exact words, Mrs. 
 Temple ? " I felt a little confused ; I cannot tell 
 why I should, unless it was because, as she spoke, 
 her eyes seemed to rest like weights upon me. 
 
 " I have the paper in here, Mr. Hardy ; she was 
 so anxious that you should hear directly that she 
 bade me write her words and give them to you. 
 Yes, here it is: I intended to stop on my way back, 
 and read it to you." 
 
 She took a paper from her belt, and spreading it 
 upon her lap, began to read : 
 
 " To the soul there is no such thing as years, John 
 Hardy. It is George Sand who writes this to you. 
 Show me the four points of any mental compass which 
 I cannot cover ! You ask for Calvin ; he has more 
 than he is able to cope with at present, to look after 
 10
 
 146 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 the radical wing of Harpists who have signed a petition 
 that favors Servetus being allowed to enter the back 
 gate of Paradise. Calvin does not know himself that 
 the back gate has no bolt, and Servetus has been in 
 many times and walked out from choice, after looking 
 about a little. Sterne was so delighted when he found 
 that a spirit could travel without price that nothing has 
 been heard from him for a long time. As for Gray, he 
 regrets so much that he allowed his Elegy to be pub- 
 lished so prematurely that he spends all his time upon 
 it, and will continue to do so until it is perfected, and 
 then he will require an honest and patient medium to 
 give it to the world, as you call this little planet." 
 
 " Then I have no guides!'' I cried. 
 
 "I can find you more if you are not satisfied 
 with such a one as is left you." 
 
 " Can I see her materialized ? " 
 
 " Be satisfied, and let me speak for her." 
 
 " But can't Mrs. Litchfield make her up for me ? 
 It was hard only to imagine her before I knew she 
 could be made visible." 
 
 " She will not permit it," said Consolation, shak- 
 ing her fine head, slowly. " She asks me to be her 
 medium. I shall serve her faithfully, and do 
 you dislike her chosen interpreter so much ? " 
 
 " Oh, not at all," I said, rather ungallantly ; for 
 I suddenly heard a yawn, and remembered 
 Emmanuel Temple was enjoying his siesta near
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 147 
 
 by, a fact I had forgotten for the moment, in my 
 excitement about my guides. I looked behind me 
 in the direction from which the yawn came, and 
 there he lay upon his back within a few yards of 
 me, his half-open eyes partly hid by the rim of his 
 old felt hat. 
 
 " When I went to sleep," he drawled, " I left 
 my wife talking to one man ; and when I wake up, 
 I find her talking to another." 
 
 Whether this was intended as a soliloquy or as 
 an observation to me, I could not determine, but 
 paid no attention to it, only recognizing the fact 
 that he was awake by wishing him good-morning. 
 
 " Good-morning," he said, and yawned again ; 
 then asked, " Where 's Samson ? " 
 
 " He has been gone some time," said his wife ; 
 " he has been talking classes again." 
 
 " Classes ? What classes ? " he inquired, crawl- 
 ing out and sitting near us. 
 
 " Why, don't you remember," she said sweetly, 
 " that some time ago he wanted you to start a class 
 in something? " 
 
 " Yes, I remember. He wanted me, he said, to 
 have a class to study matter, and he would have 
 one to study mind ; and the people who did n't 
 agree with him, he would send to me ; and those 
 who did n't agree with me, I could send to him. It 
 sounded first rate ; but when I asked him what I
 
 148 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 was going to teach, he could n't tell me. A man 
 has to know something before he can teach." 
 
 " That is a mere prejudice," said I. 
 
 " No," he said quite seriously, " I don't hold a 
 prejudice." 
 
 " My love, are you quite sure of that ? " said his 
 wife. 
 
 " Now, let me tell you what she means, Mr. 
 Hardy : she holds that it is prejudice because I 
 don't believe in the immortality of the soul. I 
 don't believe it." 
 
 " Are you not a member of the society which 
 your wife has founded ? " 
 
 " No; if she would call it the Society of Forced 
 Imaginations, I would join. Even then I could 
 not indorse the idea of the honorary members. 
 Not that I want to give you the impression that 
 Consolation does not believe it all, and twice as 
 much unmeaning matter. She has thought about 
 it so long that the notion to her has become a fact. 
 My mind is like a cube : when any new. force 
 attempts to move it, it drops suddenly, after much 
 labor, on one of its six sides, and there it remains 
 until another great effort moves it over on another 
 side. But my wife's mind is like a sphere : once 
 set it in motion, and it rolls on and on, without 
 asking for a stopping-place. It is only a question 
 of vitality when it will stop."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 149 
 
 " Just now a material view of anything is very 
 depressing to me," I said. 
 
 " Then I should say you had better talk to my 
 wife instead of to me," and he arose and stretched 
 his long arms above his head ; " only, remember it 
 is a good thing to have a solid rock under you, 
 then you can sit in the fog as long as you like; but 
 don't try to walk on it." 
 
 " Where are you going ? " his wife asked, for he 
 was walking away. 
 
 " I am going to take the babies out for a little 
 oxygen, if they are dressed." 
 
 " Then let us walk back together," I suggested ; 
 and Consolation rose, and I folded the shawl. 
 
 "It is too beautiful to be in-doors," she mur- 
 mured as we walked away. 
 
 " I guess that 's what the babies are thinking by 
 this time," said Emmanuel.
 
 150 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON our way to The Poplars we met Thurston, 
 who declared he had been looking for me 
 for a full hour. He had driven his aunt to the 
 station, and there had found a man he was very 
 anxious I should meet. He had met him the day 
 before in town, and had begged him to try to visit 
 The Poplars during my stay, and the gentleman 
 had been kind enough to come immediately. 
 
 We left Emmanuel Temple and his wife at the 
 farmhouse, where we saw the infant protoplasts 
 on the steps. They did not appear to share their 
 father's prejudice in regard to being dressed before 
 taking their oxygen. I wished Dwight Salem 
 could have seen them, and perhaps he did, for 
 Thurston said he saw him coming toward the 
 house a few moments later. I wanted to see Salem 
 alone, if only for five minutes; but Thurston, I 
 knew, was in a hurry to get back. He was in 
 excellent spirits, although Mrs. Moore looked a 
 little vexed with him as we entered the room where
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 151 
 
 she sat with a tall, young, but very bald-headed 
 man, and a round-faced little woman. I soon 
 learned that they were Professor Blossom and his 
 wife. 
 
 The Professor was very fair, and the few straw- 
 colored hairs which grew quite low down at the 
 back of his head were so unobtrusive that they 
 were seldom noticed at all. His eyes were deep- 
 set, and his smooth face so thin that when he 
 smiled and exposed two rows of large, perfect 
 teeth, I felt as if I were entering into conversation 
 with an animated skull. His wife was short and 
 more than plump, In fact, one might imagine, to 
 look at these two Blossoms, that from the matri- 
 monial platter, if not exactly like Jack Sprat and 
 his wife, the Professor ate only that which went 
 to form bone, while his wife ate for flesh. She 
 had merry eyes, and the corners of her full, red 
 lips turned up in a manner which was almost 
 contagious. 
 
 " Professor Blossom is a practical Phrenologist," 
 said Thurston. " I know that you don't know 
 what that means, but the Professor is always ready 
 to enlighten the ignorant." 
 
 This was addressed to me, and I was obliged 
 to admit that my ignorance was so great on this 
 subject that the Professor would be obliged to de- 
 scend to the most marked simplicity in his expla-
 
 152 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 nation. Mrs. Moore said she would speak to Miss 
 Norton, for she would like to have her there also, 
 as she had expressed an interest in the subject. 
 Miss Norton soon came in, and we all sat down 
 together before the Professor. Her color had 
 returned, her manner was unchanged, and no one 
 would have supposed that since breakfast she had 
 disposed of a very important part of her kingdom. 
 
 " If I had not thought you might have been 
 expecting me to-day," said the Professor, " I should 
 not have found the time to come before to-morrow ; 
 but knowing that Mr. Hardy had been very sick, 
 and believing that practical Phrenology holds the 
 key to health as well as to every door which leads 
 to happiness, wherever mind exists, I came as 
 soon as possible. 
 
 " Of course, I will not attempt to give you an 
 idea of what Phrenology is, as it would be an 
 insult to your intelligence ; but always after a great 
 truth has been forced upon the world, it takes a 
 long time, sometimes centuries, before it becomes 
 of any practical value. Never was a grand truth 
 more scoffed at than Phrenology. But to-day, were 
 every man a practical Phrenologist, there would be 
 no need of minister, lawyer, or doctor, for every 
 man could be his own. Where now we have chaos 
 and discord, we should then have order and har- 
 mony. May, hand me my charts."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 153 
 
 Mrs. Blossom rose and brought her husband a 
 bag which was lying near by upon the table. He 
 opened it, and took out two heads of white 
 plaster. 
 
 " Although you may all have an idea of Phrenol- 
 ogy," the Professor continued, " as I mention each 
 organ I will place my finger upon it, which will 
 help you to understand me. I have had these heads 
 made, so that by pressing upon the inside I can 
 increase or decrease any organ at will. Allow me 
 for the sake of illustration to call this male head 
 Mr. Hardy, and this female head Miss Newton." 
 
 " Norton," said Thurston, " Miss Norton." 
 
 " Pardon me, Miss Norton. On Mr. Hardy's 
 head I will enlarge the organ of self-esteem to an 
 abnormal degree, while I will decrease the same 
 upon Miss Norton's head and increase the organ 
 of approbativeness. The result is that Mr. Hardy 
 is overbearing, and so opinionated as to become 
 positively disagreeable to Miss Norton ; while her 
 love of approbation is so large, and her self- 
 esteem so small, that she cannot help desiring to 
 please him, yet she cannot regard him with true 
 pleasure. 
 
 " I have taken simply these two faculties for 
 illustration. I will not complicate matters by 
 making you bear more in mind ; although, in 
 treating ourselves or others, we must bear in
 
 154 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mind and thoroughly understand all the faculties 
 of the brain, also the temperament. But two will 
 do for an example. 
 
 " It may be that after an unusually overbearing 
 and opinionated remark from Mr. Hardy, Miss 
 Norton becomes unusually depressed ; she desires 
 more and more to gain his approbation, but feels 
 that she fails more and more as time goes on. 
 She is sure she is sick ; consults a doctor, who 
 advises iron and wine, or sarsaparilla. She takes 
 many bottles, but they cannot affect the organ of 
 approbativeness, and she remains the same. Then 
 she meets a friend, who advises a mind doctor, 
 and she pays two hundred dollars to learn to cure 
 herself ; but the organ of approbativeness remains 
 the same. 
 
 " Now for the practical Phrenologist. She visits 
 him, and talks to him as if he were her doctor and 
 minister combined. In a few minutes he teaches 
 her that her approbativeness needs decreasing, 
 and her self-esteem increasing. A little friction 
 stirs the blood ; and is an organ of the brain less 
 sensitive than the blood ? A little rubbing of the 
 bump, which represents this faculty, forces it to 
 become active. When she meets Mr. Hardy, she 
 no longer feels that she must have his approval, 
 but is surprised when she sees him that she feels 
 little or no awe."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 155 
 
 " Since I have met Professor Blossom," said 
 Miss Norton, " I have no fear of continuing our 
 acquaintance, Mr. Hardy." 
 
 " Is there anything that can be done for boys 
 who are disrespectful to their mothers ? " asked 
 Mrs. Moore, sadly. 
 
 " That touches the organ of veneration," said 
 the Professor, " an organ pre-eminently small in 
 American heads of any age. There should be a 
 Professor of Practical Phrenology in every city in 
 the Union, to visit the Public Schools and treat at 
 least twice a week the veneration and sublimity of 
 every scholar in the school." 
 
 " Every boy, you mean," said Miss Norton. 
 
 " And every girl, too," added the Professor. 
 
 " Now, I am a great advocate of the organ of 
 mirthfulness," said Mrs. Blossom. " When I was 
 first learning to treat myself, it all seemed so com- 
 plicated ; and the Professor was often away, and I 
 did n't know what to do. He never wanted me to 
 make much of my self-esteem, and I got in the 
 habit of treating my bump of mirthfulnes. Do 
 you see how it sticks out ? 
 
 " One day when the Professor was away, I treated 
 it so much I hardly dared go downstairs to see a 
 patient who came to see the Professor, and 
 would wait for him, for fear I should say some- 
 thing absurd about the whole thing, and lose a val-
 
 156 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 uable patient. But I had to see her, and she 
 asked me if as long as I had been with the Profes- 
 sor I had not learned to treat patients, and the 
 idea came to me that it would be fun to treat this 
 melancholy looking woman myself ; so I said I 
 thought I could treat any one very well, although 
 I had never taken the trouble to try. Of course 
 she wanted me to treat her ; and I looked into my 
 husband's books, and found that during the last 
 visit she had had her bumps of firmness, self-esteem, 
 and hope treated ; but I could not resist the desire 
 to put a little friction to her mirthfulness, and I 
 rubbed it lively, now I tell you. But I forgot to 
 take any pay for the treatment, and she never 
 came again. 
 
 " She was the daughter of a very strict old man 
 who treated her like a child, although she was 
 forty years old. He wore a wig, but no member of 
 his family had ever mentioned it even to each 
 other. She said that going home everything looked 
 strange to her, and she wanted to laugh at the 
 most respectable people she met; and when she 
 entered the house, her father was dozing before 
 the fire, and his false hair had got a little out of 
 place. She sat opposite to him for a long time, 
 smiling, but after a while she burst into a loud 
 laugh. He opened his eyes in astonishment, and 
 told her to go to her room; but she said, 'Dad,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 157 
 
 your wig's askew,' and then burst out laughing 
 again. Without waiting for any explanation, he 
 sent her to a lunatic asylum, and she is there to 
 this day." 
 
 " Oh, how horrible ! " exclaimed Miss Norton. 
 " Could n't you get her out ? " 
 
 " I went to see her father," said Mrs. Blossom ; 
 " but he would not see me. I wrote to him, but 
 received no answer. After a long time, I got to 
 the asylum to see her, and she seemed very happy ; 
 she said she liked it better than her home, and if I 
 would treat her again as I did before, she would 
 ask for nothing better. Her father thinks she is 
 crazy, and I am allowed to go there now and then, 
 and how can I refuse to give her mirthfulness a 
 little rub ? She had lived for forty years, and 
 never enjoyed a good laugh ! Well, she is the 
 only patient I ever had." 
 
 Mrs. Blossom laughed until the tears came to 
 her eyes. 
 
 " I allow my wife to mention her one case," said 
 the Professor, " because it serves as a good illus- 
 tration of the danger of over-treating any one 
 faculty." 
 
 " Will you tell us, Professor," asked Miss Nor- 
 ton, "if you had been with this lady when she 
 laughed at her father, and, as I understand it, could 
 not help it, what you could have done for her? "
 
 158 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Certainly. I should have immediately treated 
 the organs of conscientiousness and veneration." 
 
 "What would have been the result?" Mrs. 
 Moore inquired politely. 
 
 " Instantly that daughter would have been on 
 her knees before her father, in dewy tears. And 
 here I will show you all the startling need of every 
 man and woman being a practical Phrenologist. 
 Supposing at that moment, when it was impossible 
 to send for me, this lady had been taught to rely 
 upon herself." 
 
 " Do you believe anybody capable of learning 
 it ? " I inquired anxiously. 
 
 " Oh, no, sir ! There are many people incapable 
 of learning anything ; but those who can compre- 
 hend what Phrenology is, can learn to make some 
 practical use of it." 
 
 " How long do you think it would take us 
 to learn ? " asked Miss Norton. " I should say 
 we were unusually intelligent, should n't you, 
 Thurston ? " 
 
 " Take us as a class, I should say the average 
 would be good," said Thurston. 
 
 Mrs. Blossom began to laugh. "Oh, it is so 
 amusing," she said, " when you first begin. I re- 
 member when I first began to study it, I wanted to 
 make the Professor a dressing-gown, and I did not 
 know how to cut it. I bought a pattern, and began
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 159 
 
 to study it ; but I could not make head nor tail out 
 of it ; so I says to the Professor one day, ' How do 
 you suppose that some women can cut and make 
 dresses and all kinds of things, and other women 
 can't ? ' I did n't say any more, because I wanted 
 the dressing-gown to be a surprise. ' Why,' says 
 he, ' some women have constructiveness very large, 
 and others very small.' That was enough for me ; 
 I thought I would go away alone, and give my 
 bump of constructiveness a good treatment. Do 
 you remember it, Professor ? " 
 
 He gave her a smile as superior as a skull on 
 the shelf of a museum might bestow upon a child 
 in the flesh who stood on tip-toe and looked up 
 at it. 
 
 " Well, dear, if friction would have made any- 
 thing, that dressing-gown ought to have been a 
 beauty. But all of a sudden I did n't seem to care 
 about making it, and I put the cloth and the pat- 
 tern away. I was afraid I should spoil it. I 
 began to wish I had the money that it cost, and 
 every cent the Professor gave me I put in a little 
 box, and hid the box. When the patients left any 
 money with me, I never gave it to the Professor at 
 all, or told him I had it, but hid it in the box. I 
 grew very mean and stingy. Still, I did not for- 
 get that I wanted to make the dressing-gown, and 
 every day I gave my constructiveness bump a good
 
 160 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 rub. One day my sister came to see us, and she 
 said to the Professor, ' If you can really change 
 anybody's propensities by rubbing the head, you 
 had better give May a treatment, for she is growing 
 too mean to live.' ' Come here,' said the Professor, 
 and he felt my bumps, and jumped up in surprise. 
 ' Great heavens ! ' says he, ' I am living with a 
 miser. What does this mean, May Blossom ? ' 'I 
 don't know,' I said, as innocent as the woolliest 
 lamb that ever bleated. ' What have you been 
 doing to your acquisitiveness ? ' says he. ' I 
 have n't touched my acquisitiveness,' says I ; ' I 
 have tried to enlarge my constructiveness so I could 
 make you a dressing-gown, but now I don't care 
 anything about it ; I wanted it for a surprise.' " 
 
 " Yes," said the Professor, with another museum 
 smile, " and all the time she had been treating the 
 wrong faculty." 
 
 " I don't want to discourage you," said Mrs. 
 Blossom, wiping again the merry tears from her 
 eyes, " but just let the Professor show you how 
 near the two bumps, constructiveness and acquisi- 
 tiveness, are to each other, and then say if you call 
 that such a dreadful mistake for a beginner? But 
 now to prove how sincere the Professor is in his 
 idea, I want to tell you that he never forced me to 
 tell where I had hidden the money, although he 
 needed it ; but he just worked away on my con-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 161 
 
 scientiousness, and benevolence and self-esteem, 
 until I had brought it to him of my own free-will. 
 But I gave up the idea of treating myself, except 
 my mirthfulness, which has grown so large that it 
 has quite crowded out two or three other 
 bumps." 
 
 "It must be the most fascinating thing in the 
 world ; why can't we take a lesson to-day ? " asked 
 Miss Norton. 
 
 " You can if you like," said Thurston. " I told 
 the Professor to come prepared. You have every- 
 thing, haven't you, Professor?" 
 
 " I am always prepared," replied the Professor, 
 and he opened the bag from which he had taken 
 the plaster heads, and taking out a box handed it 
 to his wife. Next he took four small heads, and 
 handed one to each of us. Mrs. Blossom opened 
 the box he had given her, and took from it a small 
 box apiece for us and one for herself. These 
 boxes contained little slips of paper, with the 
 names of the different faculties printed upon them. 
 She emptied the contents of the box she had re- 
 tained upon a table beside the Professor; and 
 after wiping off the top of his head with her hand- 
 kerchief, for what purpose I could not tell, for 
 no polished skull could be freer from dust, she 
 began with no inexperienced hand to cover the 
 whole surface of his cranium with the little slips of
 
 1 62 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 paper, first slightly moistening each with the point 
 of her tongue. 
 
 " Now, if you want to laugh," she said, as she 
 labelled his bump of comparison, " you just laugh. 
 The Professor won't care ; and I have told him 
 that as many times as I have done this, it strikes 
 me just as comical now as the first time I did it. 
 I think to stop a laugh is dangerous." 
 
 " You are certainly very kind," murmured Miss 
 Norton, who was apparently suffering from convul- 
 sions, while Mrs. Moore made an excuse to go and 
 ask Maria Williams to join the class. 
 
 When they returned, the head of the Professor 
 was a complete phrenological chart. At the first 
 sight of it, poor Maria Williams' sense of the ludi- 
 crous almost overpowered her courtesy ; but she 
 rallied bravely when the good-natured Mrs. 
 Blossom assured her that she could laugh if she 
 pleased. But when the Professor was presented, 
 and bowed so low that the self-esteem label showed, 
 Miss Norton and I lost all self-control, and 
 Thurston laughed aloud for the first time; and so 
 contagious was his laugh that the whole class joined. 
 
 The Professor was examining his wife's work by 
 the aid of a large hand-glass. " Mirthfulness," he 
 said, pointing to the label upon his own head, 
 "and by the way, May Blossom, you have put it a 
 little too far to the right."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 163 
 
 " The trouble is, Professor, you have n't any to 
 speak of, and it 's hard to label nothing. I told you 
 that you ought to increase it a little for the sake of 
 your classes," she returned laughing. 
 
 " Mirthfulness, as I was saying," he continued 
 blandly, " is a faculty which responds to an appeal 
 quicker than any other in many people where it is 
 no larger than their other faculties. I am not 
 sorry to meet it in my pupils, because it seldom ac- 
 companies stupidity." 
 
 All this time he was studying his head in the 
 hand-glass. 
 
 " Lower ideality, if you please, May Blossom, and 
 raise sublimity ; they should be on a line. Now, 
 please take the small heads and the labels, and 
 begin. May Blossom, give Mrs. Williams a head. 
 
 " I take it for granted that I am dealing with 
 people who comprehend definitions. Now, you 
 each have a head and labels. Select benevolence, 
 perhaps the noblest of the faculties. Look at my 
 head carefully, then place your label on the head 
 you hold just where you think it ought to be. 
 Now, veneration. 
 
 " No, no, Mrs. Moore, you are entering the ter- 
 ritory of firmness. That 's better. Mr. Hardy, 
 you encroached a little on human nature with your 
 benevolence in the start. May Blossom, wash off 
 Mr. Hardy's head, and start him anew."
 
 164 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Ob, I '11 give him a fresh head, there is 
 another in the bag," said Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 I started again, and with great success. When 
 we had covered the little heads, Mrs. Blossom 
 washed them, and the Professor covered his head 
 with a handkerchief, and bade us take our labels 
 and see how many we could place from memory. 
 We obeyed, and the number was painfully small. 
 
 " I am afraid it would be a long time before we 
 could treat ourselves," said Thurston, as the Pro- 
 fessor uncovered the correct chart, and we com- 
 pared notes. 
 
 " Would it take any longer than to study medi- 
 cine or theology ? " asked the Professor. " A 
 true, practical Phrenologist holds the mental and 
 moral nature of himself, and of any one he can 
 reach, in his fingers. Your children can be what- 
 ever you wish them to be, no matter what Nature 
 says. The practical Phrenologist holds Nature by 
 the throat ! " 
 
 " Then the thief can train up his child to be a 
 cleverer thief than himself," I observed. 
 
 "Certainly," said the Professor; "and every 
 prison can have a practical Phrenologist instead of 
 a chaplain, and those who enter depraved will 
 come out moral. Every Foundling Hospital can 
 have one. I would agree to take an atheist and 
 convert him into a Moody in one year, simply by
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 165 
 
 the gentle friction of the four fingers of my right 
 hand." 
 
 "It is very wonderful," said Miss Norton. "I 
 wish you would treat Mr. Hardy's locality ; he went 
 off quite early this morning and got lost. Mrs. 
 Moore and I felt very anxious about him." 
 
 The Professor reached out his hand, felt of my 
 head and said, " He did not get lost, my dear 
 young lady. If he told you he did, it is his con- 
 scientiousness and not his locality which needs 
 treating ; and this is where a thorough knowledge 
 of Phrenology is necessary in order not to be de- 
 ceived. Supposing, now, you were truly alarmed 
 for fear that Mr. Hardy should lose himself, and 
 in that fear you treated his locality, when probably 
 if he lost himself it was because he wanted to do 
 so." 
 
 " He has not said he was lost," Miss Norton 
 admitted ; " we only imagined it, although I don't 
 believe his conscientiousness is as large as the 
 other bumps." 
 
 " No careful physician would prescribe for a 
 patient before he understood his case," said the 
 Professor. " To become a competent practical 
 Phrenologist requires time and study ; but I be- 
 lieve there is not a person in this class who could 
 not reach it. At present, I am the only one in the 
 world; but soon my pupils will be scattered all
 
 1 66 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 over the country, and one very promising one is 
 now studying with a thought of practising in 
 England." 
 
 Shortly after, he retired with Thurston ; and 
 when we saw him again, his head was smooth and 
 shone like a billiard-hall at rest. 
 
 " I wish we could have the Temple twins to 
 experiment with," said Thurston ; " there would 
 be a chance for the Professor to prove his 
 theory." 
 
 " I have got beyond experimenting," the Profes- 
 sor declared mildly. 
 
 " I mean for us to experiment with," Thurston 
 explained. "These twins are exactly alike; you 
 could not tell one from the other, infant pro- 
 toplasts, you know ; two little black mice could n't 
 be more alike." 
 
 " I know them if they are Emmanuel Temple's 
 children," said the Professor. " They are really 
 exactly alike ; you would realize it if you were a 
 Phrenologist." 
 
 "Did n't we always say so?" demanded Thurs- 
 ton. " I have an idea ! Can you stay here a 
 week, Professor?" 
 
 " I shall have to go into the city two or three 
 hours every day to meet my classes." 
 
 " That will be all right. You can give us a les- 
 son every day, either before you go or after you
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 167 
 
 get back. I think we could stand two lessons a 
 day, don't you, Clara ? " 
 
 Miss Norton thought she could, if I felt strong 
 enough ; and it was decided to have two lessons a 
 day. 
 
 That afternoon Thurston brought the twins from 
 the farmhouse, and said they were to stay a 
 week. 
 
 "You shall not torment those poor children 
 just for sport," said his mother. " Now, I am in 
 earnest." 
 
 " The minute they want to go back they can go," 
 said Thurston ; " and if Consolation goes awayi 
 she will be glad to leave them for Maria Williams 
 to look after for a week." 
 
 " I shall not promise to take care of them for a 
 week," said Maria Williams, quickly. 
 
 " Then Clara must," returned Thurston. 
 
 " You can't have them in the class," exclaimed 
 Mrs. Blossom. " The Professor would n't allow 
 them there." 
 
 " Why not ? " asked Thurston. " He did n't say 
 so when I mentioned it this morning." 
 
 " I don't suppose he thought you really meant 
 to bring them. Why, you see, the Professor and 
 Emmanuel Temple are not on very friendly terms ; 
 and Consolation Samson, she used to be Mrs. 
 Samson got a divorce, and
 
 1 68 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " May Blossom ! " cried the Professor. 
 
 " Yes, yes," she said good-naturedly, " I sha'n 't 
 tell anything ; but you see we used to live in the 
 same house with her when she was Mrs. Samson, 
 and she had a little boy, and she used to pinch his 
 nose " 
 
 " May Blossom, you are talking scandal! " said 
 the Professor, severely. 
 
 " Well, she did," returned Mrs. Blossom ; " and 
 I will tell that because I started to, and if I did n't 
 they might think it worse than it really was. She 
 did use to pinch his nose to punish him; and it 
 was such a little bit of a nose, I really believe it 
 shrank from fear. I used to give her a piece of 
 my mind; but what made her so down on the 
 Professor was because, when he examined her 
 head, he said that her bump of conscientiousness 
 was the smallest he had ever met with. Oh, I 
 don't wonder that she hates the Professor! He 
 wanted to make a cast of her head to use in his 
 classes to illustrate how was it you expressed it, 
 Professor? I remember it was right out, plump, 
 point-blank." 
 
 " I only said her head would serve to show an 
 intellectual but thoroughly unscrupulous char- 
 acter," said the Professor; "and Phrenology 
 never lies." 
 
 "I never blamed you, dear, for telling her what
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 169 
 
 was true when she asked you ; but you need n't 
 have asked to take a cast of her head." 
 
 " I would give a cast of my head to any one," 
 he said, " providing it should be used to benefit 
 mankind." 
 
 " But your dear old head would be as perfect as 
 Shakespeare's, if you would only take time enough 
 to doctor your mirthfulness a little. Don't look 
 so solemn ! I have n't said anything very bad ; 
 only I wanted to give a reason why you could n't 
 have those children in your classes. I don't 
 want to get mixed up with Consolation Samson, 
 myself." 
 
 " I have invited the babes for a week, and they 
 must stay," said Thurston ; and it was decided 
 afterward that Miss Norton should have one to 
 develop, and I the other. Maria Williams kindly 
 tied a red ribbon about the neck of my protoplast, 
 and a yellow about the neck of Miss Norton's, so 
 we could tell them apart. The Professor was to 
 know nothing about it. 
 
 " What are you going to make of yours, Clara ? '' 
 Thurston inquired, placing the yellow-ribboned 
 protoplast in Miss Norton's lap. 
 
 " I have not made up my mind yet," she replied. 
 " I want something quite opposite to Mr. Hardy's 
 idea." 
 
 " I suppose there is a difference even in pro-
 
 170 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 toplasm," I said, "and this we have seems to be 
 very inert ; and as I know I shall be looking for 
 immediate results, I thought some of making a 
 magazine poetess of mine." 
 
 They all praised me for this idea, both for the 
 harmless tendency as well as for the humbleness of 
 my ambition ; and Maria Williams suggested that 
 Miss Norton develop her protoplast into an 
 opponent to woman suffrage, because it would 
 make her popular among a most respectable class, 
 and really required less mental ability even than a 
 magazine poetess. 
 
 Thurston declared we had not shown any faith 
 in the Professor's theory, for the line of work was 
 the same, and would require exactly the same 
 development; and he proposed that Miss Norton 
 change her idea, and instead of developing an 
 opponent, she should bring out an advocate of 
 woman's suffrage. 
 
 This she declined to do, on the ground that the 
 poor little thing must be something that would 
 make her comfortable and happy. We talked for 
 a long time, and finally agreed that we should not 
 let the others know our plans, nor should we ask the 
 Professor any questions in the class which would 
 lead any one to guess what we were about. I was 
 not sorry to find myself already beginning to 
 admire Clara Norton.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 171 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IN the evening the Professor gave us another 
 lesson, and I felt tired and a little confused 
 when I went upstairs to go to bed. I had been 
 working very hard to place the labels right on the 
 little head he had given me, and while I was pre- 
 paring for bed I tried to remember all that he had 
 said. 
 
 The more I looked into the subject, strange as 
 it may seem, the more plausible it appeared to me. 
 I intended to see the Professor the next day to 
 ask him if he could make a business man of me. 
 Then I imagined he said that he could. Perhaps 
 it would take all summer, but I did not think 
 Nanny or Tom would expect anything of me before 
 autumn. How surprised they would be when they 
 saw my success ; and how full of remorse, when 
 they recalled the many little flings I had borne 
 from them because I did not know so much about 
 business as Tom. 
 
 I began to run my fingers cautiously over my 
 head; but I did not feel as if I had Nature by the 
 throat yet. I was afraid I might rub the wrong
 
 172 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 bumps. I had brought the small head upstairs 
 with me, and now began to study it. I imagined 
 it my own head, and began working to make a 
 business man of it. 
 
 A brilliant idea came to me. I would make a 
 note of the bumps which I thought ought to be 
 enlarged in a good business head, and those which 
 ought to be left to wither and die, and show the 
 paper to the Professor the next morning and see 
 what he thought of it. In that way I could soon 
 learn to treat myself, and he would never know my 
 object. He had told us that combativeness and 
 destructiveness were motive powers, and I put those 
 down as requiring the most friction on the head of 
 a man of business. I then made a list of those 
 which should next demand attention. 
 
 I was a long time preparing my paper, but 
 condensed it to read about like this : " Practical 
 Phrenologist 's receipt for making a business man : 
 Rub well the organs of self-esteem, firmness, 
 cautiousness, continuity, acquisitiveness. Avoid 
 veneration, benevolence, conscientiousness, sub- 
 limity, ideality, spirituality. By reversing the 
 words rub and avoid, the practical Phrenologist 
 has a receipt for forming an ideal clergyman. A 
 light friction of hope in both cases." 
 
 So well pleased was I with this paper that I read 
 and re-read it, and might have continued doing so
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 73 
 
 for a long time but for a soft rap on the door. I 
 said, " Come in," without remembering that I was 
 not dressed ; nor did the fact occur to me when 
 the door opened and. the old housekeeper entered. 
 She was an aristocratic looking lady, quite old- 
 fashioned in dress, and always humble in speech ; 
 yet, in spite of all this, I always felt that she was a 
 proud and haughty woman, and in many respects 
 superior to those she served. 
 
 " I beg pardon for disturbing you," she said, 
 closing the door gently behind her. " I have come 
 to ask a favor of you, Mr Hardy." 
 
 " My dear madam," said I, " believe me that in 
 asking me to serve you, you confer an honor upon 
 me which I appreciate;" and I approached her 
 with what I imagined was old-school dignity, when 
 she said, 
 
 " Won't you get cold, sir, hopping round in your 
 nightgown ? I wish you would get into bed while 
 I talk to you." 
 
 I dropped my receipt for making a business 
 man, and hid myself in the bedclothes. 
 
 " I want you to put on a dressing-gown and go to 
 the room opposite this," she said. " There is some 
 one there who keeps asking for you, and nobody 
 is willing you should go." 
 
 " Who is it ? " I asked, " and why should I go if 
 nobody is willing to have me do so ? "
 
 1 74 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " I think you will be glad if you go ; but it is 
 not for me to urge you further. But if you do go, 
 try to overcome any prejudice you may have 
 towards the person who is there." 
 
 " That is what I am living for now, madam, 
 to overcome prejudices; and I am overcoming 
 them so fast, I fear I shall not have enough to last 
 through my visit here. If Alexander had only 
 thought of his prejudices, he need not have wept 
 that he had not more worlds to conquer." 
 
 " You are learning it in your youth," she said 
 solemnly. " If I had learned it even in age, I 
 should not be here now." She looked sadly down 
 at the keys at her side. " Good-night, my son ; 
 the room is just opposite yours." 
 
 It was impossible after she had gone to return 
 to practical Phrenology. The forbidden chamber 
 in Blue Beard's castle was no stronger a magnet 
 to the unhappy Fatima than that room opposite 
 was to me. But Fatima was a woman ; and a 
 woman must always make a pretence, if no more, 
 of preferring rectitude where a man goes straight 
 to destruction, if he goes at all. 
 
 In five minutes after the housekeeper left me, I 
 had put on my dressing-gown and slippers and 
 had crossed the hall. I rapped at the door, which 
 was opened gently by Maria Williams. She looked 
 troubled when she saw me, and came into the hail.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 175 
 
 " No," she whispered, " you must not go in 
 there, Mr. Hardy." 
 
 " There is somebody there who wants to see 
 me," I urged. " Is there any reason why I should 
 not go ? " 
 
 " You are not strong yet ; and it is not best. 
 There is probably no great danger. Who told 
 you ? " 
 
 I did not notice her question, but persuaded her 
 that I was quite strong now and that her anxiety 
 for me was unnecessary ; and we entered the room 
 together. 
 
 There I found Mrs. Moore standing by the bed 
 where Dwight Salem lay partly undressed, his face 
 as white as death. 
 
 " Who told you ? " asked Mrs. Moore, as soon 
 as she saw me. " I did not want you to know it." 
 
 I sat on the bed and asked, " What has gone 
 wrong, Salem ? " 
 
 " 1 wanted to see you," he said, reaching feebly 
 for my hand. " Who bwought you hewe ? I must 
 see you alone, John. I must tell you something." 
 
 " Now you have come, you may as well stay," 
 said Mrs. Moore ; " and if Mr. Salem feels that 
 he must talk to you, I think it is just as well to 
 allow it." 
 
 After they had left us alone, I repeated my 
 question : " What has gone wrong ? "
 
 176 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Only a twifle," he replied ; " but I wish it had 
 gone wight." 
 
 " Tell me what you mean." 
 
 " Only a bullet, John," he said, coolly. 
 
 " Who fired it ? " 
 
 " I," he returned gently. 
 
 For a few minutes neither of us spoke. I was 
 thinking I had been glad that he had not come 
 back with us from the fair. Now I thought if he 
 had only stayed with us, this could not have hap- 
 pened; and the rare, proud face of Dora Salem 
 rose before me. These two were the last of the 
 name. Was it the pallor of death that had settled 
 upon his handsome face ? We had known each 
 other from babyhood, but never until now had I 
 believed that I held for him the slightest regard. 
 
 "Yes, I shall die," he said, as if answering my 
 thought. 
 
 " Have you seen a surgeon ? " 
 
 " Thuwston has dwiven to the city fow one. I 
 asked to see you fiwst, but they would not call you. 
 I sent fow you because you awe my sistevv's fwiend. 
 Do you know why you wewe nevew mine, John 
 Hawdy?" 
 
 "I thought we were friends," I returned, a little 
 embarrassed. 
 
 " We wewe nevew fwiends because thewe is one 
 lettew in the alphabet that I could nevew pwo-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 177 
 
 nounce. You wewe a big fellow who could woll 
 youw ahs, and you thought a little man who 
 could n't must be an ass. The Salems nevew 
 took much twouble to explain themselves ; and I 
 would n't to-day, only I may die and I am 
 thinking of Do." 
 
 He closed his eyes and was silent a few moments, 
 then roused himself and said, 
 
 " I want to talk awhile to you, then I want you 
 to cawwy me home. I have no claim upon these 
 people. I must have been in a swoon when Thuws- 
 ton dwove away, or I should have had him cawwy 
 me home. I ought not to die hewe. It is n't 
 couwteous to die in a man's house unless you have 
 a stwong claim upon him. I am all the time think- 
 ing of Do. She is a twue Salem ; she is pwoud, 
 and honowable ; and I yes, you awe wight, John ; 
 I am an ass ! But tell Do I have nevew dis- 
 gwaced the name. All I have will be hews, you 
 know," he whispered ; " sometime you will mawwy 
 hew." 
 
 " I will never marry a lady, Dwight Salem, for 
 her fortune." 
 
 " Listen to me, John," a faint color coming for 
 an instant to his white face. " In the gwave thewe 
 is no pwide. Can any one heaw us ? " 
 
 " No, the door is closed," I replied softly. 
 
 " Heaw me say it then, John Hawdy, and you
 
 178 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 awe the only one who will evew heaw it : I die be- 
 cause I love Mrs. Temple!" 
 
 " Then you will die for a very unworthy creature ; 
 and you 'd better live to despise her." 
 
 " I could nevew despise hew, and I know hew 
 bettew than you do." 
 
 " She is a diabolical woman, the tool of a villain, 
 and she cares for you only because of your 
 money ! " 
 
 " You awe wong, wong, wong ! " he said softly, 
 but firmly. " I can set you wight. If she only 
 wanted to have my money, would she be willing to 
 mawwy me ? " 
 
 " Marry you ! Why she is married." 
 
 " Yes, I know," he said sadly ; " she is mawwied 
 to a gowilla, and has two miniatuwe gowillas ; 
 did n't you see them at the faiw ? You can tell me 
 nothing about hew, John ; but she offewed to get a 
 divowce, and leave the old gowilla and mawwy 
 me ; and I wished I had been a hod-cawwiew, that 
 I might have done it. If I had had any name but 
 Salem, I would have done it. I would have done 
 it ! I would have mawwied hew, and gone to the 
 end of the wowld with hew." 
 
 " You ought to thank God then that he made 
 you a Salem." 
 
 He smiled faintly and said, " I keep thinking of 
 Do. She is stwong and pwoucl. You will mawwy
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 1 79 
 
 hew some day, but you will nevew tell hew this 
 that I tell you to-day. But, John," and his voice 
 grew very low, " when that day comes, will you 
 wemembew the woman I loved, and will you pwo- 
 mise to see that she gets a pawt of my money ? " 
 
 I made an impatient gesture, but dared not trust 
 myself to speak. He laid his hand upon mine and 
 continued in the same low voice, 
 
 " Think, John, the only woman Dwight Salem 
 evew loved has cwied fwom hungew ! Think of 
 the disgwace ! " He covered his eyes with his 
 hand as if to shut out some dreadful sight. Then 
 he smiled again and said, " In the gwave thewe is 
 no pwide. I love hew! If she loves my money 
 mowe than she loves me, then she shall have 
 enough of it. My life and my money belong to 
 me ; they awe wightfully my own, she shall have 
 both ; but my name is Do's name and I keep 
 thinking of Do ! " 
 
 I wanted to tell him all that I had heard that 
 morning on the subject of his money, but feared 
 the consequences. His hand had grown hot, and 
 the faint color in his face had deepened. He had 
 closed his eyes again, and I heard him murmur, 
 
 " And you will mawwy Do. But pwomise nevew 
 to tell hew I spoke of it fiwst to you." 
 
 " She will never marry me, Salem," I said, as 
 gently as possible ; " she is too proud."
 
 180 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You weally do not love hew ! " he exclaimed in 
 horror. " John, do you wemembew when we wewe 
 childwen and that old gypsy woman wanted to tell 
 ouw fowtunes ? Do and I would n't let hew tell 
 ouws, do you wemembew it? She said, ' Pwoud 
 and gwand, and wich as you both awe, you shall 
 both be unhappy in love ! ' ' 
 
 " Yes," I said, " I remember it. I stoned her 
 for you ; that broke the charm. You will both be 
 happy in love." 
 
 " You do not love Do ! " he murmured, in the 
 same tone of horror he had used before. He then 
 raised himself, and exclaimed almost savagely, 
 " Did you evew know any one so beautiful or so 
 pwoud as she ? Who is so good and so gentle ? 
 Show me anothew face, anothew hand, anothew 
 step like Do's! But she is a twue Salem; she 
 would not buy youw love and you do not love 
 hew ! " These last words were spoken as if they 
 contained a horrible truth which he had just 
 discovered. 
 
 " She will never care for any one who is un- 
 worthy of her; you can trust her for that," 
 1 said as kindly as I could, taking his small 
 hand. 
 
 For a moment he looked at me earnestly, as if 
 he would speak, then lay back upon the pillow 
 with a sigh. When he spoke again, his voice was
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 181 
 
 so low that it was with difficulty I caught the 
 words : 
 
 " My pwide has bwought me hewe ; I cannot let 
 Do suffew as I have. I will give you my fowtune, 
 John; then who shall say you mawwied hew for 
 hews? You will keep the secwet, for you awe 
 honowable." 
 
 "That would be very honorable, would n't it? 
 Take my advice, and don't try to arrange matters 
 until you are well. It seems to me you are doing 
 badly." 
 
 " But if I do not get well ? " 
 
 "You will. You must!" 
 
 " Fowget what I have said, if it was a mistake. 
 I have something else to tell you; you will say that 
 all I have said comes fwom a disowdewed bwain. 
 What I have alweady told you is tvvue, but what I 
 saw may be imagination. If it means that I am 
 going to lose my mind, I want you to take me 
 home to-night. When I was bwought fiwst into 
 this house, I believe I saw my gweat-gwandmothew 
 Salem ! You laugh at the idea." 
 
 " I was wondering how you could recognize your 
 great-grandmother." 
 
 " Do you not wemembew hew powtwait that has 
 always hung in ouw libwawy ? " 
 
 A chill, worse than Consolation Temple had 
 ever caused me, ran down my spinal column ; for
 
 1 82 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 while he spoke I recalled the portrait, and at last 
 was able to tell where I had seen the aristocratic 
 old housekeeper. 
 
 " You do not laugh at me now," he said ; " you 
 believe that sometimes people see the dead when 
 they awe going to die." 
 
 How could I tell him that he had not seen her ? 
 Who had sent me to him ? I reminded him that he 
 had fainted, and possibly his head was confused. 
 
 " She came because she was afwaid I was going 
 to disgwace the name," he said. 
 
 I begged him to think no more about it; and 
 when Mrs. Moore came to tell us that Thurston 
 had come with the surgeon, he seemed to have for- 
 gotten it.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 183 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE wound, although serious, did not prove to 
 be dangerous ; and after a few days Dwight 
 Salem was able to be taken home. I was curious 
 for the details bf the affair, but could not ask for 
 them, and he did not offer to tell me. 
 
 The day after he left, the Emma Liz found me 
 in the garden, and said she would like to talk with 
 me where no one could hear us ; and she led the 
 way to the seat which I had begun to look upon 
 as fateful to me. 
 
 " How much do you know about little Salem's 
 getting shot? " she asked abruptly as we sat down. 
 
 " That he was shot. Is there any more to 
 know ? " 
 
 " You know that he shot himself ; so do I, for 
 I saw him do it." 
 
 " You ! " I exclaimed ; " and where was he ? 
 He said nothing about you." 
 
 " Of course he did n't, and he told me to say 
 nothing; but I can't keep quiet. What did I tell 
 you about your handsome Rebekah ? "
 
 184 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " What has she to do with it ? " I must have 
 feigned surprise badly, for she said, sarcasti- 
 cally, 
 
 " Oh, how little we know ! Well, men ain't sup- 
 posed to have any curiosity ; but I will tell you all 
 the same. The day you met Consolation and her 
 charcoal husband, you know the day you walked 
 to the farmhouse with them and Thurston, well, 
 that day, quite late in the afternoon, I saw little 
 Salem and madam walking through Lover's Lane 
 together. In the evening I was down town with 
 old Miss Kimball, and I saw him again. It was 
 all of nine o'clock, and he was walking pretty fast 
 towards Lover's Lane. I don't know what made 
 me follow him, but I did; I left old Miss Kimball 
 to go home alone, and I went after him, clear 
 through the lane. I thought he would meet Con- 
 solation there, but he did n't. When he got to the 
 end of the lane, he sat down on a tree that had 
 fallen ; and I went as near as I dared, for I did n't 
 want him to see me. It was bright moonlight, and 
 I thought I saw something shine in his hand. 
 Anyhow I imagined it was a pistol, and that he 
 was going to kill somebody. It never came into 
 my head that he was going to shoot himself. After 
 a good spell he went into the woods, and I fol- 
 lowed after him." 
 
 " Had you no fear ? " I asked.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 185 
 
 " Land, no ! He had nothing against me, and 
 always treated me in the most polite way. Well, I 
 kept a good lookout for Consolation ; but she 
 was n't anywheres about, nor nobody else ; and 
 then, all of a sudden, it came to me that may be 
 he was agoing to shoot himself, and I began to 
 shake all over, and couldn't move hand nor foot. 
 He went into a side-path where the trees were 
 pretty thick, and it was beginning to look kind of 
 scary. I was going to speak to him, but I was 
 afraid that might make him fire before I got to 
 him. I am awful strong, and I made up my mind 
 to go up sudden and snatch the pistol. But he 
 did n't make a great long speech, the way they do 
 at the theatre before they kill themselves ; and the 
 first thing I knew, he had the pistol pointed straight 
 at his head. What I wanted to do was to knock 
 his arm up, so that the shot would go up in the 
 air; but it was all done so sudden, I suppose. I 
 only took hold of his arm and dragged it down, 
 for the ball went into his side. Oh, land ! why 
 can't anybody keep their wits when they 're scared ? 
 I thought he was dead as he ever wanted to be, 
 but he wasn't; he was going to fire another shot. 
 By that time I was n't so scared as I was mad, and 
 I grabbed the pistol and says, 'You better save 
 that shot for a better woman than Consolation 
 Temple.'
 
 1 86 A Fearless Investigator, 
 
 " Then he says, ' I thought you was John Hardy ; 
 I knew you was following me, but I thought you 
 was John Hardy. What wight have you to follow 
 me ? ' You know he always says ' wight ' and 
 ' wong.' 
 
 " ' I did n't have any right to follow you,' says I, 
 speaking as proud as he did ; ' but some day may 
 be you won't be very sorry that I did. Can you 
 walk?' 
 
 "'Give me my pistol,' says he; then before I 
 could say ' Land of Liberty ! ' he had fainted away, 
 just as dead as a log. I never saw a man faint 
 away before, and I thought he was dead, sure 
 enough ; and if your sweet Rebekah had come 
 along just then, I think I could have shot her with- 
 out a shiver. 
 
 " I knew there was a brook near there, and I got 
 some water in his hat, his poor little dandy hat, 
 and I wet his face, and pretty soon he opened 
 his eyes. ' Tell them it was an accident,' says he ; 
 ' go away now and leave me.' 
 
 " 'What for?' says I. 
 
 " ' I shall die,' says he ; ' you must n't be here. 
 If I couldn't speak, they might say you did it.' 
 Now was n't he pretty good to think of that, and 
 he almost dead? He's a man, if he is a snob. 
 Says I, ' Don't fret about me ; only if you Ve got 
 any common-sense left, just listen a minute. I
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 187 
 
 want to tell you what we must do. I am going 
 back to our barn to get the farm horse and buggy. 
 I will drive down to the foot of Lover's Lane ; you 
 must walk as far as that. Don't try to move till I 
 come back, and it will seem to you as if you was 
 waiting for resurrection day, but I have got to 
 sneak round the farmhouse to see if anybody is 
 up,' for I knew that Emmanuel Temple never 
 went to bed till almost morning. 
 
 "I tell you, Mr. Hardy, the grass didn't grow 
 under my feet going home ; and I found the farm- 
 house all dark. I tackled up pretty lively, and I 
 made old Bill travel as he was n't much used to. 
 I thought there was some brandy in the parlor 
 closet, but there was n't nothing but some of Aunt 
 Marthy's cordial ; but cordials ain't wholly tem- 
 perance, and it did first-rate. If I had n't had it, 
 I don't believe I could have got him to the buggy; 
 but I lifted him in and drove him to The Poplars. 
 He wanted to be taken to you. When we were 
 driving up the avenue, says I, ' It was an accident; 
 you was n't far from the woods, and was afraid, 
 and looked at your pistol to see if it was all right, 
 and it went off.' 
 
 " ' I was nevew afwaid,' says he. 
 
 "'Well,' says I, 'just tell me what story you 
 want me to tell, and I '11 tell it. You don't want 
 everybody to know that you meant to do it, do 
 you?'
 
 1 88 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " ' If I die, you may tell John Hardy,' says he ; 
 ' he would never guess the truth. You are very 
 kind and good, but you need not lie for me.' 
 
 "' Well,' says I, ' I am just good enough to tell 
 a lie if it will help you any.' 
 
 "' I shall not go in the house,' says he; 'you 
 can call Mr. Hardy out, and he will drive me to 
 the city.' 
 
 " He was so set, I thought the best thing was to 
 get you out, though I knew they would n't let yon 
 take that long drive to the city if they knew it. I 
 went in the back way, and found you had gone to 
 bed; the only thing I could do was to get Thurs- 
 ton. I told him little Salem was fixing his pistol, 
 and had shot himself. I did n't make much of it, 
 and I think now everybody believes what I said 
 was true." 
 
 " But why, Miss Emma Liz, do you tell me this 
 now ? " 
 
 " Because I feel that you are the only one Mr. 
 Salem would be willing to tell, and I must tell it 
 to somebody ; because I won't stay another day 
 under the same roof with that woman. I knew 
 Mr. Salem had gone, and it was about time for 
 her to leave, and I told her so; but she told me, 
 as cool as ever you please, that she was Mrs. 
 Moore's company and not mine. Then I went to 
 Aunt Marthy, and told her to give her a hint; and
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 189 
 
 she said about the same, that Mrs. Moore owned 
 the farmhouse, and she had sent her there, and it 
 was true ; and though her high and mighty airs 
 ain't very pleasant, Aunt Marthy says there is 
 nothing she can say against her. And there I 
 have to stay, and see her waving her long fingers, 
 and saying things that Satan himself could n't 
 understand, and putting on more airs than an act- 
 ress. I can't stand it ! What shall I do ? " 
 
 " How can I aid you?" I asked helplessly, but 
 with sincere sympathy for the girl. 
 
 " Another thing," she continued, her eyes filling 
 with tears, " I am getting nervous ; I can't sleep 
 nights. Just as soon as I go to sleep, I am creep- 
 ing after little Salem through Lover's Lane ; then 
 I hear the pistol go off, and I wake up with a 
 scream, and I know right in that next room is that 
 horrid woman. If I go to Mrs. Moore, I must tell 
 her the whole thing, and I have n't the right to. 
 Can't you do something, so they will send her 
 away ? I did n't know I had any nerves, but I am 
 getting awful. What shall I do ? " 
 
 " I wish I could help you, but you must see that 
 I can do nothing. Unless," I said, becoming sud- 
 denly inspired, " I ask Thurston to invite her here, 
 to please me. He knows I am very much inter- 
 ested now in investigating, and I can say it would 
 be a fine thing to have a medium in the house."
 
 igo A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 She made an indignant gesture. " Thank you, 
 but I don't care to go creeping after any more 
 lunatics ; and if you only want a medium, you can 
 ask Miss Norton to sit for you, she is better 
 than Consolation Temple. I 'd die before I would 
 do anything to get. Consolation over here; that's 
 just what she wants, to get to the big house. 
 You can send her flying with a word, if you 
 choose; and you won't do it. She'll take you in 
 next, I suppose. But I 've no need to worry; it's 
 nothing to me. I wish now I 'd let little Salem 
 alone ; a hole in an empty head is no harm. I 
 am sorry I troubled you." She turned angrily 
 away. 
 
 " Stop a moment, I beg ! Let me justify my 
 position. You say nobody knows the truth ; if I 
 say something to Thurston, may he not suspect 
 something? But I will try to help you, if you will 
 give me time to think it over. Although Mrs. 
 Temple is not in the same house that I am, you 
 acknowledge yourself that she is a guest of the 
 same lady; how can one guest say anything to 
 prejudice his hostess against another, and that 
 other a lady ? " 
 
 She gave her head a violent toss, as if the whole 
 subject rested on the top of it, and she would shake 
 it off and be done with it. 
 
 "You were the only one I had any right to say
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 191 
 
 this to ; you are the last one I should have picked 
 out, but for that. You are a stranger to me, and I 
 had no business to ask anything of you. Good- 
 day, sir ; " and in spite of my urgent request that 
 she should stay a moment longer, she hurried 
 away. 
 
 I both pitied and respected her. I could see 
 that the strain upon her nerves had made her irrita- 
 ble and a little unreasonable. In spite of her deter- 
 mination that Consolation should not come to the 
 " big house," I had made up my mind that it was 
 the only way out of the trouble. 
 
 I found Thurston, and after speaking of other 
 things I said, " I thought Mrs. Temple was com- 
 ing here as soon as your aunt went away. I was 
 very much interested that night she went into a 
 trance, and I thought I should like to hear her 
 some more." 
 
 " Oh, she is nothing to Mandy Litchfield," he 
 said ; " we are going to have Mandy here soon, to 
 show you some materializations. She can mate- 
 rialize as fast as you can recognize." 
 
 " I don't doubt it ; but I like the lofty style of 
 Consolation. There is something commonplace 
 about materializations. Consolation appeals to 
 the imagination. If you lower Spiritualism from 
 that realm, you spoil it for me." 
 
 " I '11 make you a better Spiritualist than that
 
 192 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 before you leave The Poplars," he said, laughing; 
 " but not through Consolation. Which would you 
 rather have here, the Professor, or the Tem- 
 ples ? For if the Temples come, the Blossoms 
 probably go." 
 
 I was getting on very well in practical Phrenol- 
 ogy, and could not bear the idea of the Professor's 
 going away, and said I should enjoy seeing the 
 Blossoms and the Temples together. 
 
 "You are more wicked than I," he said. 
 " Mother says I am doing all I can to make her 
 appear ridiculous in your eyes. Here I have in- 
 vited St. Cecilia to come here, and mother says 
 she won't let her in. But be patient ; you shall 
 see her and hear her sing, if you won't ask any 
 more for Consolation." 
 
 I could have said no more, even if Miss Norton 
 had not come up at that moment and asked how I 
 could look so serious after a tete-a-tete with the 
 Emma Liz. 
 
 " It is just that," I acknowledged, "which makes 
 me look so serious." 
 
 " Do explain ! " she said. 
 
 " You know very well, Miss Norton, that I am 
 investigating the subject of Spiritualism ; and I 
 was asking Miss Emma Liz if she could recom- 
 mend a trustworthy medium, one that money 
 could not influence ; and judge of my surprise
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 193 
 
 when she told me I need not go out of the house 
 I was in, and referred me to you." 
 
 " To me ! She sent you to me ? " she exclaimed, 
 and blushed deeply, but laughed, and said, " What 
 do you suppose she meant?" 
 
 " Tell us all about it," said Thurston ; " give us 
 the truth." 
 
 " I am perfectly willing to tell," she returned. 
 "The Emma Liz was very unhappy because but 
 it does not concern us why and she came to me 
 to ask if I had any faith in mediums. I found she 
 had at last taken the fever, and was going to see 
 one. She spoke of Mrs. Temple, and I thought I 
 knew as much of her affairs as Mrs. Temple, and 
 I advised her to come to me. I did not want Conso- 
 lation to get hold of her purse ; I told her to come to 
 me and save her money. She came, and I went 
 into a trance for her." 
 
 Thurston burst into a loud laugh, but she went 
 on without a smile : 
 
 "That morning I had gone quite early to the 
 farmhouse for Mrs. Moore, and while there I took 
 up the paper of the evening before. In looking it 
 over, I saw that something had been cut out; it 
 was in the column that advertised mediums. When 
 I went in, I saw the Emma Liz give a letter to the 
 butcher's boy, and I heard her say, ' Don't forget 
 to mail this, this morning.' When I came back,
 
 194 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 the same boy was at the door here ; I called him, 
 and said, ' That letter Miss Emma Lizzie gave you, 
 I will take ; I am going to the post-office this morn- 
 ing, and you may forget it.' I suppose he thought 
 she had asked me to take it. It was directed to 
 ' Madam Imogene Thayer.' I found Mrs. Moore's 
 evening paper, and there in the medium's column, 
 where the piece was cut out in the paper at the 
 farmhouse, was Madam Imogene's advertisement. 
 For one dollar and a lock of your hair she would 
 reveal the future." 
 
 " And the Emma Liz, who would not look at the 
 works of Mandy the Honest, Mandy the Just, 
 had been taken in by an advertisement ! " cried 
 Thurston. 
 
 " I did not mail the letter," continued Miss 
 Norton. " When I went into the trance, I remem- 
 bered that when walking in the churchyard here, 
 I had seen the names ' Emeline,' and ' Elizabeth 
 Holt.' They died in the same year, and it must 
 have been about the time the Emma Liz was born. 
 In the same enclosure I saw the name of ' Eben 
 Holt,' surely her uncle. This proved that they 
 were of the same family. What more natural than 
 to suppose that the Emma Liz was named for her 
 two aunts, who died about the time she was born ; 
 and what more natural, if you were going into a 
 trance, than to bring them to call upon their name-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 195 
 
 sake. They came and advised her through me 
 not to trust any medium but me. She was con- 
 vinced beyond a doubt that I was a true medium. 
 She even thrust a pin into my wrist, to see if I had 
 any idea of humbugging." 
 
 " The brute ! " said Thurston. 
 
 " No, she is not; she was only in earnest, and 
 was sorry enough to do it, I have no doubt. She 
 was ready to believe anything I told her ; and the 
 next day I gave her the letter, and confessed the 
 whole truth. I wish you could have seen her 
 face ! Her trouble was over, for she was friends 
 again with Joe ; but she said I had deceived her. 
 She was angry at first, and said, ' You 'd better set 
 up as a medium.' She felt that she ought to be 
 very indignant ; but I told her I had been a good 
 and cheap fortune-teller. I had told her to trust 
 me, and everything would come out all right ; and it 
 had. She knew I did n't want her to waste her time 
 and money on people who could help her less than 
 I could. At first she did not want me to tell any- 
 body ; but she could not help telling her aunt, and 
 finally old Miss Kimball, who said I was a terrible 
 medium, only I was too proud to own it." 
 
 All this amused Thurston very much, but did 
 not suggest to me any way to help the Emma Liz 
 get rid of Consolation Temple.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WE still continued our lessons in practical 
 Phrenology, but I fear, in trying to make 
 the most of the short time the professor could stay 
 with us, I over-studied ; for I began to think I 
 could settle every little difficulty that presented it- 
 self, if I could only get hold of the right heads to 
 treat. 
 
 If a stranger came, although he only stayed to 
 dinner, instead of passing a few pleasant hours 
 with him, I began to study him in reference to 
 treating his weaknesses. One day a strong desire 
 took possession of me to see what I could do for 
 Paul St. Clair ; but he was a mysterious visitor. I 
 never saw him at table, and seldom in the house. 
 I asked Thurston what had become of him, and he 
 said, " Oh, he is round here somewhere, I suppose," 
 just as if he had been a house-dog, or a cat, in- 
 stead of a visitor. Much to my surprise, that 
 same day he was at dinner, and seated beside 
 me.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 197 
 
 The lady had arrived whom Thurston called St. 
 Cecilia, and she seemed almost in ecstasy to meet 
 the Professor and his wife. I asked Mr. St. Clair 
 if he had heard we were studying practical Phren- 
 ology, and he said he had heard about it. I was 
 surprised that he seemed aware of everything that 
 went on in the house, for I saw him but seldom. 
 I hoped he would express a little interest in the 
 study, and that Mrs. Moore would invite him to 
 join the class ; but he seemed quite indifferent to 
 the Professor and the science. I wondered where 
 he spent his time, and asked him if we should not 
 see him that evening, and he replied, " Possibly." 
 
 "I have an idea that you might gain some 
 benefit," I was about to say, but there was such an 
 amused expression in his keen eyes that I feebly 
 substituted the word, "satisfaction." 
 
 He looked more amused, and said it was not a 
 bad idea. I referred no more to the subject, but 
 was not surprised when we met for our evening 
 lesson that he was not present. 
 
 " Our lesson must be short to-night," said 
 Thurston ; " because we want time enough after it 
 to listen to St. Cecilia." 
 
 " Must we own, here, that there is such a thing 
 as time ? " sighed Cecilia, in a tone so soft that it 
 would have forced the cooing dove to put herself 
 under voice-culture.
 
 198 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " There is no such thing as time for you and 
 me," said Thurston; "but Mr. Hardy is still 
 bound to the material world, and has to go to bed 
 early. He is trying to get up his strength to dance 
 at a masquerade party we are to have in a few 
 days." 
 
 " Perhaps we had better postpone the lesson to- 
 night," said the Professor. 
 
 " That would be cruel, indeed," said St. Cecilia. 
 " I want you to take my poor head and give a les- 
 son upon it. It will do just as well for the class as 
 anything, and I need to be guided. There are 
 natures, and feminine natures too, that rely always 
 upon themselves ; but I am not one of them. I 
 am always leaning upon some nature stronger 
 than mine. I should like to learn to lean upon 
 myself. Since the first day I heard of Professor 
 Blossom, I have felt that he could help me ; and I 
 should have been to him before this, but I am 
 poor. The little minstrel " she must have 
 weighed a hundred and eighty pounds " is often 
 called to fine houses; but, like little Tommy 
 Tucker, she sings only for her supper, and I have 
 never heard that the Professor takes charity 
 patients." 
 
 Thurston and Miss Norton declared that noth- 
 ing could be more profitable than a study of St. 
 Cecilia's faculties ; and in a moment the heavy coils
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 199 
 
 of hair fell like a dark mantle, and covered the 
 shapely shoulders of the " little minstrel." She 
 took a low seat at the feet of the Professor, and as I 
 looked from her fresh face, her dark sensuous eyes, 
 and full red lips, to the bald pate and deep eyes of 
 the Professor, and saw his thin fingers resting on 
 the soft hair with the same scientific coolness that 
 they usually rested on the plaster heads, I thought 
 they would make a very good picture of Death 
 and The Flesh. 
 
 " Do not hesitate," she said, raising her eyes 
 and looking into his sockets, " do not hesitate 
 to tell me the truth." 
 
 " Phrenology never lies," he returned. " If I 
 do not tell you the truth, it is because I do not 
 read aright." 
 
 We gathered closely about them, and the lesson 
 began. Thurston and Mrs. Moore, who knew St. 
 Cecilia well, were astonished at the Professor's 
 success in delineating her character from the study 
 of her head : and also at the amiability of " the 
 minstrel " after some of his severe comments. He 
 told her that her conscientiousness was naturally 
 wofully small, and had never been cultivated in 
 the smallest degree. 
 
 " That must be true," she murmured ; " for people 
 say I do the most atrocious things, and then sleep 
 as calmly as an infant."
 
 200 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You tell lies," said the Professor, calmly. 
 
 "Without number," she returned sweetly. 
 
 " Your benevolence is too large for you ever to 
 do any direct harm." 
 
 " I am so glad," she murmured, still gazing into 
 his sockets. 
 
 The Professor wanted us to observe how large 
 her language was ; and each, with a small labelled 
 head in hand, bent over her, while she gazed at 
 the ceiling in order to show off that faculty. 
 
 " Positively no destructiveness," said the Pro- 
 fessor, feeling behind her ear. 
 
 "You are looking in the wrong place," said 
 Thurston. " Look in her eyes." 
 
 " Positively none," said the Professor unmoved, 
 " and very little combativeness. Time and tune, 
 large ; ideality, comparison, sublimity, all large. 
 This might be the head of a poet or a musician." 
 
 " Both," cried Thurston. 
 
 " Nature has labelled every child she has made, 
 as plainly as the druggist labels his perfumes and 
 his poisons. The practical Phrenologist can mould 
 a demon into a seraph ; or could he catch an angel 
 in the street, he could by skillful manipulation 
 change him into a fiend," continued the Professor. 
 
 " How interesting ! how interesting ! " cried St. 
 Cecilia, clasping her hands. " How much would 
 it cost to make a seraph of me? Oh, no, that
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 201 
 
 would not do ! How should I earn my poor little 
 crusts? " 
 
 " What do you do now ? " asked the Professor. 
 
 " I am an inspirational singer; and Mrs. Temple 
 says it is because I am so near the natural plane, 
 that minstrels come to me. I told her at first I 
 made up songs without any help from anywhere. 
 Sometimes I could sing long songs that I had 
 never heard or thought of; and somebody told me 
 to say I was inspired, and I did, and I think I 
 have done better since. I have never learned to 
 do anything but sing. I am sure, dear Professor 
 Blossom, I had better remain as I am." She 
 looked again, with sweet languor, into the scien- 
 tific sockets. 
 
 " As you see fit," he said ; "but if you ever tire 
 of yourself, or wish to change even your identity, 
 remember Professor Blossom." 
 
 " Have you no faith in the stars ? " she inquired 
 softly. " Did not my stars make me what I am ? " 
 
 " What do I care," he said, in the same unmoved 
 manner, "what the stars make me? It may be 
 that at the hour of my birth bloody Mars was in 
 the ascendency ; must I for that cause be a warrior, 
 or delight only in military displays, or read only 
 the lives of great generals, if I happen to live in a 
 peaceful country ? Not at all. Powerful as is the 
 influence of the planets on our unconscious birth-
 
 202 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 hour, I hold it all at the end of my fingers. Give 
 me a boy and a girl, with Mars for their birth-star, 
 and I will agree to make a Quakeress of one, and 
 a tender of sheep of the other." 
 
 " How wonderful ! How wonderful ! " sighed 
 St. Cecilia. " Sometimes I sing war-songs ; but I 
 am sure Mars was not my star." 
 
 " Oh, no," said the Professor ; " I should say 
 Mars had gone down, and Venus was well up, at 
 your birth." 
 
 " Yes," she murmured, " I am sure Venus was 
 my star ; most of my songs are of love." 
 
 " Do let 's put away the traps and have a little 
 music," Mrs. Blossom exclaimed. " I get so sick 
 of talking bumps, and seeing these old plaster 
 heads round. Sometimes when it is late after a 
 class has gone, I go into the Professor's study, 
 and they look like the heads of poor little 
 ghosts." 
 
 Thurston led St. Cecilia to the piano ; and with 
 her eyes upturned, her hair thrown back from her 
 low brow and still flowing in dark waves to her 
 feet, she began a soft prelude. 
 
 When Mrs. Blossom had put the last head into 
 the bag, and had taken a seat near the piano, the 
 prelude ran into a monotonous but musical accom- 
 paniment, and the saint began to chant. She de- 
 scribed in rather romantic phraseology a dark old
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 203 
 
 castle of feudal times ; shadows, shadows, every- 
 where, represented by a great deal of bass. Little 
 rays from the crescent moon came to us through 
 the medium of the treble clef. 
 
 We were then told to listen to the approaching 
 tramp of the horse that bears the bacchanalian 
 lover as he passes tfee castle of his lady on the way 
 to his midnight revelry. Suddenly, as the dark 
 outline of the castle strikes his eye, he breaks the 
 gallop of the well-trained steed into steps so small 
 and soft that the earth scarce feels the weight of 
 horse and rider; and the lover sings a song in 
 which he commends his lady-love to the care of 
 Dian, while he goes to quaff the wine that mad- 
 dens. This serenade was very good and well 
 sung, and the bold horseman, after singing it, 
 should have gone on about his business ; but he 
 lingered to see if his voice made any impression 
 upon the cold castle, and then follows a vow that 
 he will not abandon the spot until Phoebus rises. 
 This enrages Dian, in whose care he has declared 
 he would leave his white-souled love, and she de- 
 scends and smites him and his steed ; and when 
 Phrebus rises, he sees the bacchanalian beside the 
 well-trained steed that will never prance again. 
 
 I know I must have been very much interested 
 in the music, for this unfortunate serenader was 
 the first person for several days whom I had not
 
 204 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 wanted to bring under the treatment of practical 
 Phrenology. 
 
 St. Cecilia paid no attention to applause or com- 
 ments ; but, after resting a moment, struck some 
 frightful discords, and in a hurried recitative in- 
 formed us that the sun of a summer's day was 
 disappearing, and at the foo* of a green hill a 
 rejected lover stood. Then, suddenly, to a savage 
 air, unlike any I had ever heard, she sang of his 
 wrathful fury against the false maid in several 
 verses which I cannot remember well enough to 
 do the author justice. 
 
 This song pleased Miss Norton so much that 
 she begged to have it repeated ; but the improvis- 
 atrice, without heeding the request, began to sing 
 of the sea. 
 
 I shall not attempt to give her words ; but on 
 the white shore sat the old mer-witch who gave, or 
 sold, love-potions to mortal maids. The sad 
 Clotilde, the fisherman's daughter, who loves the 
 bold man who lights the great lamp at the light- 
 house which glows across the water, comes and 
 asks for help. She tells the old mer-witch that all 
 she wants is opportunity ; that the bold man will 
 not leave his lamp, and she cannot go to the light- 
 house. After much singing from the sad Clotilde, 
 the mer-witch tells her there is a way, but she fears 
 the fisherman's daughter will not fancy it. The
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 205 
 
 little maid says she is ready even for death ; yet 
 when she learns she must become a mermaid, and 
 sing in all sorts of weather near the lighthouse, her 
 courage fails, and she is on the point of returning 
 to her cot, when the old witch tells her that the 
 bold man, whom she thinks is faithful only to his 
 lamp, has another love. This decides her, and she 
 is about to sacrifice her little white feet for the 
 more useful appendage of the maiden of the deep, 
 when she learns that with her feet goes her im- 
 mortal soul. She hesitates but a moment, then 
 passionately cries that without the bold lamplighter 
 her immortal soul would be a burden, and she is 
 quickly transformed into a beautiful mermaid. 
 While she is swimming towards the lighthouse, 
 she feels a strange coldness in her heart, and asks 
 the old mer-witch what it means. " It is but the 
 blood of the mermaid," explains the witch. " It is 
 cold ; but after awhile you will not notice it," 
 and she takes her down far under the water, where 
 the old witch's son, a horrible merman, dwells, who 
 sent his old mother to bring Clotilde to him. He 
 gives his bride a beautiful necklace of pearls, and 
 she is slowly forgetting the bold man at the light- 
 house, when a little mermaid asks her if she has 
 ever heard the big man, who lights the great lamp, 
 sing about Clotilde. " And who is Clotilde ? " she 
 asks, and the mermaid takes her to the point of
 
 206 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 land where every day the bold man sits. When 
 she sees him she feels a slight stir in her breast, 
 and leaves the little mermaid and swims very near 
 the shore. The bold man sees her, and she goes 
 under the water immediately. But he knows her 
 face, and thinks he has seen her ghost; and he 
 calls to her to come to him, dead or alive. Every 
 night she haunts the lighthouse, until one night 
 when the moon is bright the bold man sees her 
 and jumps into the water ; but Clotilde the mer- 
 maid feels only a faint remembrance of the love of 
 Clotilde the fishermaid, and she sees him sink with- 
 out a pang in her cold heart, and returns to the 
 merman beneath the wave. 
 
 The music of this was very good, and everybody, 
 even Mrs. Moore, applauded warmly, and seemed 
 sorry to have St. Cecilia stop ; but a great deal of 
 the last song, in which the bold man leaps into the 
 dashing waves, must have been a strain upon the 
 throat of the fair singer, and although the Profes- 
 sor said he could listen until morning without 
 fatigue, we all thought she needed rest. 
 
 She arose smiling, and said, " I could n't sing 
 any more, however much you might desire it." 
 
 " Do you mean you have sung all you know ? " 
 asked Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 " No ; but the inspiration has parsed," she said. 
 " I do not remember that I ever sung one of those
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 207 
 
 before. Did any one of you ever hear them any- 
 where ? " 
 
 No one had ever heard a note of them. 
 
 " No more have I," she said, taking a low seat 
 beside Maria Williams, who offered to fasten up 
 her hair for her, an offer which was not appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 The last song haunted me. The cold-blooded 
 mermaid, carelessly riding over the wave where 
 the loving bold man had gone down forever, would 
 not leave my fancy ; and I could only defend my 
 imagination by asking the Professor if he believed 
 such a creature could be reached by practical 
 Phrenology. He said that while there remained 
 enough real heads to treat, we had better not spend 
 our time speculating as to what might be done 
 with imaginary ones. 
 
 I wanted to ask if this was intended as a rebuke, 
 but some one came and said Aunt Marthy wanted 
 to see Mrs. Moore immediately ; and I thought of 
 the Emma Liz and her trouble, which I had for- 
 gotten while listening to the rhapsodies of St. 
 Cecilia.
 
 208 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LATE in the evening I saw Mr. St. Clair, and 
 asked him to come to my room for a chat 
 when he could spare the time. 
 
 " You are now on your way to bed," he said ; " I 
 shall keep you up." But he yielded to a second 
 request, and said as he sat down, " This is a better 
 plan than to see you in the class. What do you 
 want to 'say to me ? " 
 
 I had not told him that I wished to say anything, 
 and felt a little uncomfortable at the question. 
 His smiling eyes seemed to read my thoughts ; per- 
 haps that is the reason I said frankly, 
 
 " I have been thinking a great deal about you in 
 the last few days, in connection with practical 
 Phrenology. If you have never looked into Pro- 
 fessor Blossom's theory, the idea may strike you as 
 absurd ; but come into the class to-morrow, and 
 judge for yourself." 
 
 " I have my own theory," he said ; " I am doing 
 very well. I have the experience of thousands of
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 209 
 
 misers to guide me. I am working in the only 
 way that will bring success. Will you kindly take 
 these?" and he handed me several gold pieces. 
 "There," he said, as I pocketed them hastily, 
 "the pang was so slight, I can almost say with 
 truth it was nothing." 
 
 " But what is your objection to coming into the 
 class ? You surely do not dislike the Professor? " 
 
 " My dear young man, I don't dislike anybody ; 
 and as nearly as I can find out, the Professor's 
 intentions are all good. I wish I could say as 
 much for Mrs. Temple." 
 
 " Then you doubt her intentions ? " 
 
 " You know her intentions in regard to your 
 friend Salem," he said calmly. " Pride is a very 
 good thing if you can't get anything better to 
 lean upon ; but if he had had something better, 
 he would have saved the Emma Liz a great deal of 
 anxiety." 
 
 I believed he had a knowledge of the whole 
 affair, but said nothing. He sat there beside me, 
 laughing gently, and I thought there was little that 
 he did not know. 
 
 " Thurston is coming," he said suddenly. " I 
 cannot tell you now what I really came in for : 
 another time." 
 
 " Don't go," I urged ; " I don't hear anybody." 
 But as I spoke, Thurston knocked at the door. 
 
 M
 
 2io A Fearless Investigator, 
 
 " Hello, you here? " he exclaimed, when he saw 
 Mr. St. Clair. "You have n't offered me a dollar 
 for a month." 
 
 " The last I gave you you spent recklessly," said 
 the old gentleman. " I told you to give it to your 
 mother; but here, take a piece," and he handed 
 him a bit of silver. 
 
 ' Oh, let me help you more than that," begged 
 Thurston ; " can't you make it ten dollars ? " 
 
 This pleasantry appeared to delight the old gen- 
 tleman. He said that he and Thurston were a 
 mutual benefit society, and handed me another 
 gold piece; which made Thurston writhe in his 
 chair, as if the sight of the gold going into my 
 pocket instead of his own caused him great anguish. 
 This did not appear to offend the old gentleman in 
 the least; he laughed heartily, and arose to go, 
 saying, " I know that you came to tell Mr. Hardy 
 something, Thurston; and I will leave you to 
 embroider your little story, as you might not be 
 able to do if I stayed." 
 
 " Come, now," said Thurston, " I am pretty 
 truthful. Where were you yesterday? I wanted 
 to ask your advice about something, and you were 
 nowhere'to be found. Did you go to Jupiter ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Sit down and tell us about it ; Mr. Hardy 
 probably never met anybody who has seen Jupiter."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 211 
 
 I had become accustomed to so many of Mr. St. 
 Clair's peculiarities, that I no longer looked upon 
 him as a lunatic, but as a kind, imaginative old 
 gentleman who enjoyed seeing how many of his 
 fancies other people would accept ; but now I 
 thought there could be no doubt of his mental 
 state. 
 
 He looked at me, and as usual seemed to read 
 my thoughts correctly, for he said, " Mr. Hardy 
 must have learned by this time, Thurston, that I 
 live in the imagination a good part of the time, 
 and that will prevent any feeling of alarm when I 
 say I went yesterday to Jupiter." 
 
 If this man was a lunatic, he certainly was a 
 clever one, for I immediately returned to my old 
 idea of him. 
 
 " If you spent a whole day in Jupiter, you cer- 
 tainly ought to be able to tell us something about 
 it," said Thurston. 
 
 " I can tell you something about it, perhaps ; 
 but why not go see for yourself? You know what 
 I have told you often, often, my boy ! " 
 
 " Don't mention that," said Thurston, with a 
 scowl ; " fly low, to-night, my friend, or you will 
 frighten Mr. Hardy." 
 
 i; I will go no higher than Jupiter," he returned, 
 with his amiable laugh. " How much do you know 
 about Jupiter?"
 
 212 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Fourteen or forty thousand times larger than 
 our poor little planet, as Consolation calls our 
 dwelling-place," said Thurston. " Its inhabitants 
 are fifteen feet high, as some old German has told 
 us. That 's all I know about it." 
 
 " It is like an immense garden of Eden," said 
 the old gentleman. " There are no desert places 
 there. The inhabitants are any size they please to 
 make themselves ; for the art of materialization, 
 which with us is in its infancy, is with the dwellers 
 of Jupiter an art perfected. Let me make this 
 plain to you. I found upon studying the people 
 there that they possess the power of giving any 
 idea that came to them a material form. I asked 
 an inhabitant if the people there ever fought with 
 each other as they do sometimes upon the earth ; 
 if one man was ever known to strike another. 
 'You are a very small man,' I said, 'and you seem 
 to have a great deal of gold about you,' for he had 
 an enormous silk purse filled with gold coin hung 
 upon his arm. 
 
 " ' It is a mere courtesy,' he said, ' this bag of 
 gold. It is a custom here as soon as we meet a 
 stranger and read in his mind what he cares for 
 most, to materialize the thought and bear it with 
 us until we part company.' 
 
 " I felt as if I had been rebuked by an angel ; 
 but I said, ' Have you no fear of being robbed ? '
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 213 
 
 " ' By whom ? ' he asked ; ' by another who could 
 make gold as fast as I ? Let us suppose for a 
 moment that such a thing as a robber could come 
 to our planet, a supposition which could only 
 be entertained for the sake of argument. But let 
 us suppose this robber came to me with the idea 
 of doing me harm ; he must be a wandering spirit, 
 either from the Earth, Venus, or Mercury, cer- 
 tainly from one of the inferior planets. In those 
 planets the art of materialization is almost unknown. 
 Let us imagine that he approaches me to strike. 
 With no thought of harm to him, but to teach him 
 that he cannot hurt me, I take for an instant the 
 idea of a giant, a physical giant. I materialize 
 that idea in this way, and, lo ! as he spoke, he 
 stood before me, a creature as tall as the German 
 astronomer Wolf makes the inhabitants of Jupiter; 
 and I could easily see that if a robber did not 
 understand the same art, he must have been very 
 much astonished ; and if he could do the same 
 thing, they both could have kept on increasing in 
 bulk until one was capable of conceiving a larger 
 idea than the other, which brought it down after 
 all to a mental combat.' 
 
 " I had become so much interested, that for the 
 first moment since I met him I had forgotten the 
 big purse of gold, and had taken my eyes from it. 
 My soul grew lighter, and I begged him to tell me
 
 214 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 more. He kindly reduced himself to my height, 
 for my convenience, and proposed that we should 
 take a walk together, as in that way we could see 
 many things that I might like to know about. The 
 purse of gold had disappeared. We passed many 
 people, and not one of them looked upon us with 
 curiosity, nor yet with indifference. 
 
 "'What is it all these people say to me?' I 
 asked ; for it sounded like a strain of music, and 
 yet as if they spoke to me. He told me they said, 
 'God bless the Earth,' for they knew I had come 
 from there. ' That 's very polite of them,' I admit- 
 ted. ' I suppose they despise the Earth, she is so 
 small.' And I thought of an old man, I knew who 
 lived in a little village in France, who had never 
 left his native place, but when a neighbor offered 
 to pay his expenses if he would go to see the city, 
 said, ' I was born in this place, and I mean to die 
 here; it's big enough for me.' What would he 
 have said if he had known that any one lived who 
 could despise the Earth because she is so small! 
 
 " I was on the point of telling this to my com- 
 panion, but suddenly I felt as if the old Frenchman 
 was a countryman of mine, and I could not bear 
 the idea of making fun of him to the dweller of a 
 larger planet. 
 
 " ' How do they all know that I am from the 
 Earth ? ' I asked. ' I should not know that they
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 215 
 
 were from another planet if I met them upon the 
 Earth.' He said that when they knew I was com- 
 ing, they assumed the appearance of the place 
 from which I came. 
 
 " ' Out of compliment to my benighted condition, 
 I suppose,' said I ; ' the same as you carried the 
 gold.' 
 
 " ' Perhaps not out of compliment,' he said, ' but 
 out of consideration to the prejudices of the people 
 that come from the semi-civilized parts of the 
 Earth.' 
 
 "'Semi-civilized!' I exclaimed, and was about 
 to mention that I came from Boston, but was glad 
 I did not when he said, 
 
 " ' The most civilized parts of your planet, I fear, 
 are but semi-civilized. I have been told that men, 
 and women too, accumulate gold for the sole pur- 
 pose of holding it ; and that they have strong 
 places built for it for fear that it will be taken 
 from them.' 
 
 " ' Certainly,' I admitted. 
 
 " ' And I have been told,' he continued, ' that the 
 little children of the Earth are fond of sweet-tasting 
 things, and that people put things behind glass 
 windows where children can see them, but cannot 
 take them.' 
 
 " ' That is only people who sell,' I explained ; 
 'anybody can buy who has money. Don't you 
 sell anything in Jupiter ? '
 
 216 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " He told me there was no such word as 'sell,' 
 or its equivalent, in any language in Jupiter that 
 he had ever met; but he had been told that it was 
 in all languages used on the smaller planets. He 
 said that he had also been told that there were 
 places of worship, into which they will not permit 
 people who have not accumulated gold to enter. 
 
 " ' That is not true ! ' I cried. He was rejoiced 
 to hear it, and said, ' even hell can be misrepre- 
 sented.' I acknowledged that we had very expen- 
 sive churches built by the rich, where the poor 
 could not afford to go. But if they could pay, 
 they could go ; they were not shut out. 
 
 "'But,' he said persistently, ' the ones who have 
 not accumulated gold, can they go just as well as 
 the ones who have ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, they don't want to go,' I said ; ' they 
 have to sit in poorer places, and they cannot wear 
 fine clothes; I never have thought much about it, 
 but I don't think they want to go.' 
 
 "'Then you do admit,' he said, 'that there is 
 actually a distinction made, even in places of wor- 
 ship, between those who have accumulated gold 
 and those who have not ! But you are not speak- 
 ing of the most civilized parts of the planet when 
 you admit this ? ' 
 
 " I was obliged to acknowledge that the more 
 civilized the greater the distinction.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 217 
 
 " ' If that be true,' he said, ' I must sincerely beg 
 your pardon for the abhorrence I felt for you when 
 we first met, and I saw your love for gold. How 
 could I, born in a place where no such terrible 
 passion was ever felt in the breast of one of its 
 dwellers, how could I be able to judge you ? 
 But I have been deceived; I have been told that 
 the people of the Earth believe in the same great 
 Father that we do. This cannot be true; for 
 surely in the places where they meet to worship 
 him, no such distinction could exist.' 
 
 " ' Perhaps,' I said, ' in a desire not to deceive 
 you, I may have exaggerated a little, and made it 
 out worse than it is.' 
 
 "' I am sure you have,' he said kindly ; 'but in 
 my curiosity to hear about your planet, I must 
 not forget that you came here for what help you 
 could get from mine.' 
 
 " ' What is this glorious building?' I exclaimed ; 
 for we had come suddenly upon the most dazzling 
 temple I ever imagined. 
 
 " ' That is a material temple,' he said. ' No one 
 here worships in a temple which could be made by 
 mortal hands; but as God has thrown out from his 
 spirit hand this beautiful universe for us, so we, 
 when we have materialized anything worthy to be 
 placed in a material temple, humbly offer it to Him. 
 Some of the gems in the roof of this temple were
 
 218 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 made within an hour; if an hour hence one more 
 beautiful can be produced, then one of these will 
 be taken away, and the better one placed in its 
 stead.' 
 
 " I asked if we could go in. 
 
 " ' If you desire to go,' he said ; and we en- 
 tered. Everywhere were precious stones or won- 
 derful carving. Gold, silver, and ivory, and many 
 materials I had never heard of, were made into 
 the most exquisite forms. While I gazed in 
 speechless admiration, he said, 
 
 " ' This is only that we may not forget that God 
 lives in the material as well as in the spiritual 
 universe, a fact we are too apt to forget. We do 
 not worship here but in the spirit. And to prove 
 to you that every one who helped to make this 
 temple is sincere, without asking anybody if I 
 may appoint the time for its destruction, I will 
 destroy it.' 
 
 " Slowly he walked through the grand aisles of 
 the temple, lined on both sides with marvels of 
 richness and beauty, and passing his hand gently 
 over one after another they disappeared under his 
 touch. When he had reached the empty walls, I 
 gained speech and cried aloud, ' Spare it ! Spare it ! ' 
 
 " ' It is not worth the humblest prayer that ever 
 ascended from an honest heart,' he said, and began 
 to dissolve the beautiful walls.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 219 
 
 " I begged for the poorest gem to take it to the 
 Earth, for I could not help thinking of the astonish- 
 ment I could create with it, and how much gold it 
 would bring. But he shook his head, and said 
 even if the gems were not sacred, he could not 
 give me one, for not one belonged to him. 
 
 " ' Then by what right do you destroy them ? ' I 
 asked. 
 
 " He said that perhaps I would understand later. 
 When the great temple had disappeared, I turned 
 sadly from the spot and we walked on in silence 
 for some time, when he said, 
 
 " ' Awhile ago you said that you supposed those 
 people who spoke to us as we passed despised the 
 Earth because she was small ; can you not see by 
 my destroying the temple which so many helped to 
 build, that we judge nothing from its material size 
 or value ? There was a law passed here a long 
 time ago, and I suppose it is still in existence, that 
 no one should be found in possession of any mate- 
 rial thing for longer than the length of time stated 
 by the law, which I have forgotten now. A great 
 many souls are sent here from the smaller planets 
 when they die, that they may learn how much they 
 over-value the material. Do you see that great 
 mansion we are coming to now ? That belongs to 
 a person who is very slow to learn this.' 
 
 " It was indeed a grand establishment. The
 
 220 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 mansion was of a soft gray stone that delighted 
 the eye. Beautiful gardens were upon one side, 
 and orchards filled with sweet-smelling fruits upon 
 the other. 
 
 " ' Let us go through the garden,' said my com- 
 panion. 
 
 " ' Is it allowed? ' I asked. 
 
 '"Are you not a stranger?' he replied; 'and 
 tell me where you ever saw a gate closed upon a 
 stranger ? ' 
 
 " I could have mentioned many places, but I 
 would not. In the garden we found several 
 maidens, with some bits of lace in their hands 
 which they seemed to be comparing. I could not 
 understand a word they said ; but my companion, 
 after watching them a moment, said they were 
 making lace for the poor lady who was mistress 
 there. We approached them together, and the 
 maidens all said what I had learned to know 
 meant, ' God bless the Earth ! ' They then talked 
 in the same unknown tongue to my companion, 
 who asked me to remain there a few moments 
 while he went to the house. He said he thought 
 it better not to take me with him, as my influence 
 was quite material, and it might affect the poor 
 lady, who was very unhappy, as that day all her 
 possessions were to be dissolved ; and although 
 she knew that in a short time she could have more,
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 221 
 
 she was weeping bitterly. The maidens said I 
 could go and look in if I wished, for her grief was 
 so sincere she would not notice me. I went to a 
 low window which they pointed out ; and there, 
 upon a couch of silk, with a canopy studded with 
 jewels, lay the unhappy lady from my own 
 planet. 
 
 " ' We are very sorry for her,' said one of the 
 maidens. ' But why does she weep for anything 
 that cannot last ? She is a foolish woman.' 
 
 " We walked back to the garden, and I asked 
 them if I could see them make some lace. They 
 all sat down, and one suggested that I tell them 
 which made the prettiest pattern. 
 
 " ' See,' she said, moving her empty hands rapidly, 
 'this is my design.' 'And this is mine,' said 
 another, producing an entirely different pattern. 
 ' Which will the Earth lady like best ? ' 
 
 " ' Where did you learn to do it ? ' I cried in 
 astonishment. 
 
 " They said that everybody could do it, and 
 wanted me to try. One advised me to begin by 
 trying to make gold, as that was the strongest 
 thought in my mind. 'Now,' she said, 'I think I 
 have it ; ' and in a moment she told me to open my 
 eyes, and she held in her hand a United States gold- 
 piece. ' Could n't you think of something better 
 than that?' she said, laughing. 'I do think that
 
 222 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 the people that come from the Earth have the 
 most common-place images in their minds ! ' 
 
 " One of the others spoke to her in her own 
 tongue, and she said immediately, ' God bless the 
 Earth ! ' and gave me the coin, saying, ' Now you 
 make one.' When I told her I could not, they all 
 cried, ' Try ! try ! Think of the same thing 
 again.' 
 
 " I suppose they must have helped me, for I 
 soon held another coin in my hand. But I felt a 
 terrible pain in my head, and it seemed as if there 
 was an attraction between the coin in my hand and 
 the one in my mind ; and the farther I held the 
 one in my hand from my head, the stronger be- 
 came the pain, until I found myself holding it close 
 to my brow ; and in a moment it was gone. 
 
 " ' Now, which was the real coin ? ' cried one of 
 the maidens, laughing. 
 
 " ' That depends upon what you want to do with 
 it,' said I. ' If I were in the Earth and felt 
 hungry, I would rather have the one I had in my 
 hand.' 
 
 " They asked me if I could eat it, and laughed 
 merrily. 
 
 " ' Oh, happy maidens ! ' I said ; ' you live in a 
 planet where no one is bound to the material ! 
 Never visit the poor Earth ! ' 
 
 " They ceased laughing, and each began to make
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 223 
 
 a purse of silk. When the purses were finished, 
 they filled them with coins, like the one I had 
 made, and offered them to me. Their voices 
 sounded sad, I thought, as they said, ' God bless the 
 Earth ! ' and they walked away and left me alone. 
 
 " I was ashamed to have my companion come 
 back and find me with so much gold, and tried to 
 make up my mind to hide it somewhere, and return 
 later and take it away. I had just discovered a 
 good place under the steps of the mansion, when I 
 remembered that in a few hours the whole of the 
 beautiful place would disappear. What if I did 
 not come back before it was accomplished? 
 Would not my gold go with the rest ? The pos- 
 session of it had brought back all the horror of 
 parting with it, and I gathered the purses up in my 
 arms and walked rapidly away. 
 
 " The farther I walked the heavier grew my steps, 
 until it seemed to me that I could go no farther. 
 The people I passed said, ' God bless the Earth ! ' 
 so faintly I could scarcely hear it. The atmos- 
 phere became heavy ; I sank down and closed my 
 eyes. 
 
 " I was nearly unconscious, when I heard some 
 one beside me. It was the voice of the companion 
 I had left at the Earth woman's house. 'Take 
 courage,' he said, and held a glass of something I 
 thought was wine to my lips. While I drank, he
 
 224 -d Fearless Investigator. 
 
 said gently : ' Go back to your gold. You will 
 come to the truth at last ; but go back to it until 
 you learn the worth of it.' I felt a strong desire to 
 be rid of his presence, and he said, ' We shall meet 
 again, when you desire it.' I remember no more. 
 When I awoke I was upon the Earth." 
 
 " At The Poplars, I suppose," said Thurston. 
 
 " Then it was all a dream," I said, " and not the 
 workings of your conscious imagination ? " 
 
 " Whichever you please," he replied, rising to 
 leave. " I have stayed late. I ought not to forget 
 that you are mortal, and sick at that." 
 
 I would have enjoyed another dream; but he 
 bade us a hasty good-night, and went away.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 225 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 u T WISH I had not started him on Jupiter," 
 
 * said Thurston, after the old gentleman had 
 gone. " Now it is late, and I wanted to tell you 
 something." 
 
 "It is early yet, if you have anything to tell 
 me." 
 
 " It will soon be, but I must stay long enough to 
 tell you that Consolation Temple is coming here 
 to-night. I thought perhaps you would sleep bet- 
 ter if you knew she was under the same roof with 
 you. It was about her coming that Aunt Marthy 
 was anxious to see mother to-night. She has told 
 Consolation to leave the farmhouse, just the 
 same as turned her out, because the Emma Liz said 
 she could not sleep in the same house with her. 
 
 "Aunt Marthy said that the Emma Liz came to 
 her two days ago, and asked her to tell Consolation 
 to fold her tent ; and when she asked for a reason 
 the Emma Liz failed to give any, except that Con- 
 solation was too airy. Aunt Marthy said that 
 15
 
 226 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 did n't hurt anybody but herself, and unless Emma 
 Liz had a better reason to offer, she could do noth- 
 ing, because mother had sent the Temples there. 
 
 "This evening, Aunt Marthy, Mandy Litchfield, 
 and old Miss Kimball had a grand ' settin' up ' in 
 Aunt Marthy's room, and Mandy brought out both 
 of the Emma Liz's aunts and they looked so per- 
 fectly natural that Aunt Marthy said she could not 
 believe that they had ever died. She made them 
 walk and talk and brush their hair; and now that 
 she is positively sure Mandy is not a fraud, she is 
 going to bring her here, and we shall have the 
 house full. 
 
 " She told the two aunts to hold on to themselves 
 while she went to call the Emma Liz, but they 
 said, ' No ; don't call her, because she will not 
 come ; but do as she wants you to do : send that 
 woman away. If you don't, the Emma Liz will 
 surely be sick ; and don't ask us why, but do as we 
 tell you ! ' What do you think of that ? " 
 
 "And did she send Mrs. Temple away on ac- 
 count of these ghosts? " I asked in amazement. 
 
 "It was the first time her sisters-in-law had 
 called for twenty years ; how could she refuse this 
 trifling favor ? She was only afraid of what mother 
 would say. She came, and when mother asked her 
 what Consolation had done, she could not bring a 
 thing against her.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 227 
 
 " Mother said, ' It is eleven o'clock ; where shall 
 they go?' ' It is your house,' said poor Aunt 
 Marthy, 'but it is my home. I can go away, I can 
 leave it; but I will never stay in a house with a 
 woman that the spirits and the Emma Liz both say 
 ain't right.' 
 
 " Mother wanted to please Aunt Marthy, and 
 did not want to mix up the Temples and the 
 Blossoms ; but she told her to ask Consolation to 
 come over here a minute to see her, and she 
 promised she should not go back. But that did n't 
 satisfy Aunt Marthy ; she wanted Consolation 
 sent away from The Poplars. She said she did 
 not throw things at her neighbors that she could 
 not stand herself, and she could bear as much as 
 we could. ' Be sure,' she said, ' that the Emma 
 Liz knows something; for she would never ask to 
 have a woman sent away because she put on too 
 many frills.' And I tell you, John, I believe she 
 does know something that we don't. But here I am 
 talking until morning. The whole thing is, you 
 have your way ; Consolation Temple is under the 
 same roof with you, for Mother Moore would never 
 let her sleep outdoors. Rest now in peace. We 
 can't get rid of her before the masquerade party. 
 I did want you to see her ! but you'll get tired of 
 it after a few days, and she won't go. Good-night, 
 and dream of Jupiter."
 
 228 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 The next morning I was much amused in watch- 
 ing the gentle, insinuating advances of Consolation 
 to Mrs. Blossom, and the firm but polite man- 
 ner in which the Professor's wife repelled them 
 all. 
 
 The fair minstrel had gone. 
 
 Mrs. Moore did not invite Consolation to join 
 the class ; and we were taking our lesson as usual, 
 and she sat reading in another room, when we 
 heard a loud cry, and looking out through the 
 open window I saw my protoplast pounding Miss 
 Norton's protoplast with considerable force. Greatly 
 to my surprise, Miss Norton's, instead of receiving 
 the attention with indifference, gave the long yel- 
 low ribbon, which distinguished my property, a 
 sudden jerk which landed its wearer half-strangled 
 upon the grass. We all ran out ; but before we 
 reached them, Consolation was seen flying towards 
 the spot with terror in her eyes. 
 
 " My babes ! " she cried, in a tragic tone, " how 
 can I interpret this conduct ? Surely, this is 
 obsession ! " 
 
 The Professor reached down, took a babe in 
 each hand, and looked first at one, then at the 
 other, attentively. They seemed quite uncon- 
 scious of their audience, and made vain struggles 
 to free themselves in order to reach each other ; but 
 the Professor held them firmly.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 229 
 
 " I never knew them to quarrel before," said 
 Mrs. Moore. 
 
 " They never did," said Consolation, sadly ; " they 
 were like two notes that harmonize, or two colors 
 that blend perfectly." 
 
 " They were like the same note struck twice, or 
 two samples of the same color," said Thurston. 
 " Come, own up, you two, I mean you, Clara 
 and John, own up that you have begun your 
 experimenting in practical Phrenology." 
 
 " I deny it ! " exclaimed Miss Norton. " I have 
 not decided yet what is best to do with mine." 
 
 I positively declared that I had not seen the 
 babes except at their play since they came. 
 
 The Professor handed one struggling protoplast 
 to the mother, and then put his fingers behind the 
 ear of the other. 
 
 " I understand it now, madam," he said sol- 
 emnly. " Destructiveness and combativeness nat- 
 urally unusually small, but developed suddenly to 
 an abnormal degree. Allow me, if you please, to 
 take the other child." 
 
 " Before you proceed any further," said Consola- 
 tion, " perhaps it would be well to develop the fac- 
 ulty of credulity in some of the older craniums 
 present, if your valuable science acknowledges 
 such a faculty." 
 
 "It acknowledges everything, madam," said the
 
 230 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Professor, evidently unconscious of anything ex- 
 cept a desire to gain information on the part of the 
 anxious mother. " Sometimes it is the blending 
 of many faculties which produce another ; but 
 Phrenology acknowledges everything. May I 
 take the other child for a moment ? " 
 
 A clever student of physiognomy would have 
 found a field for labor in Consolation Temple's 
 face at this moment. It was not that it expressed 
 a great deal, but because, knowing as we all did 
 how much was going on in her mind, that it was 
 possible for her face to express so little. 
 
 " Never to refuse anything that amuses any- 
 body, Thurston says, is a good resolution," she 
 said smiling, and exchanged children with the 
 Professor. 
 
 " Just as I supposed," he said, after he had 
 pushed the heavy hair away from the child's ears. 
 " Mrs. Temple, whoever is to blame for this, it is 
 not I. This is the first time I have seen your chil- 
 dren since they came to this place; nor has any 
 one else done this by my direction, or with my 
 knowledge." 
 
 " Professor ! " said his wife, " do not condescend 
 to defend yourself. You are not a stranger to 
 Mrs. Temple." 
 
 " Do not interfere, May Blossom," he returned 
 quietly. "To increase the number of women in
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 231 
 
 an argument always complicates matters in propor- 
 tion to the number added. Emmanuel Temple 
 told me that, and I have found it very true." 
 
 " There is nothing to argue," said Consolation, 
 sweetly ; " and why should I hold you responsible 
 for a little dispute between my babes, any more 
 than any other person here ?" 
 
 " They never quarrelled before," said Thurston. 
 
 " But it is not at all likely two children are going 
 to grow up together and never quarrel," said his 
 mother. " It is nothing." 
 
 " Do you say it is nothing," said the Professor, 
 turning towards Mrs. Moore, "when two children, 
 living together day after day without any apparent 
 opposition to each other, suddenly try to knock 
 each other down? Do you say it is nothing? It 
 means that somebody has changed the general 
 tenor of their dispositions. There is but one way, 
 and we all know that way. I must say it, one 
 or more persons here can tell who has done it." 
 
 Thurston looked first at Miss Norton, then at 
 me. Maria Williams did the same. I am sure I 
 looked guilty, although I was perfectly innocent. 
 
 " You changed your mind about the magazine 
 poetess, I suppose," said Thurston, " and you were 
 working up a war goddess ; but you and Clara 
 must have had some understanding between you, 
 and I believe you were on the same track."
 
 232 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " I have not touched those children since they 
 came, except to wash their faces and put on fresh 
 ribbons," Miss Norton declared. 
 
 " How can you be annoyed by such nonsense, 
 Miss Norton?" asked Consolation. 
 
 "How do you account for it?" asked Miss 
 Norton. 
 
 " It is a simple case of obsession," said Con- 
 solation. 
 
 "Obsession!" exclaimed Miss Norton, "what 
 is that?" 
 
 " It may be that the influences here brought a 
 conflicting circle of spirits, and some bad spirits 
 have taken control of my babes." 
 
 " I should think you would have to develop some 
 credulity somewhere before you could get any one 
 to believe that," said Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 " Shall we go on with our lesson ? " inquired the 
 Professor. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Moore. " Go back to your 
 lesson, and I will stay with Consolation and the 
 children." 
 
 We went back and took up our little heads ; but 
 the Professor looked troubled and absent-minded. 
 At the end of the lesson, he said he was at a loss 
 to tell who had been practising upon Emmanuel 
 Temple's children, and what they were trying to 
 make of them. " Mrs. Temple," he said sadly,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 233 
 
 " carries her animosity so far as to ignore the truth 
 of the greatest science, because it was proved by 
 me." 
 
 " That is better than to accuse you of making 
 little beasts of her children," said his wife. 
 
 " I would rather be accused of anything than 
 have the truth held in contempt. I am convinced 
 that somebody in this house may I say, in this 
 very class could tell us who is to blame ; but let 
 me again assure you all that it was not done with 
 my knowledge." 
 
 " Come, Clara Norton," said Thurston, persua- 
 sively, " if Mr. Hardy won't confess, you might. 
 Whatever may be the anger of the mother, I will 
 protect you." 
 
 " What object could Miss Norton have in de- 
 ceiving us ? " asked Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 " That is what I can't understand," said Thurs- 
 ton, earnestly. 
 
 Mrs. Blossom came to the window where I stood 
 looking out to see what the babies were doing. 
 " Mr. Hardy," she said, in a low tone, " have you 
 faith in practical Phrenology ? " 
 
 " The greatest," I declared. 
 
 " You believe that somebody has been testing 
 the value of it when you see those children, don't 
 you ? " 
 
 "How can I help it?"
 
 234 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 She looked at me with great significance in her 
 eyes. 
 
 " Mrs. Blossom, you, at least, believe that I am 
 innocent of the fearful charge of developing inert 
 protoplasts into little savages ! " 
 
 " It is not enough to be innocent," she whis- 
 pered. " Come with me, and I will prove your 
 innocence. See, there are the sweet babes, ready 
 for another fight ; let us go quickly before any one 
 sees them." 
 
 We hurried into the garden, where the proto- 
 plasts had seized a small wagon, one by the 
 wheel, the other by the pole, and were pull- 
 ing with all the force of their newly developed 
 faculties. 
 
 " Oo let go ! " cried the one with red ribbons. 
 "Ooletgo! let go!" 
 
 " I won't ! " declared the Yellow. 
 
 " Knock oo head off," said the Red. 
 
 " Knock oo head too," the Yellow returned 
 boldly. 
 
 Mrs. Blossom hastened to them and in a most 
 insinuating manner said, " Oh, what a jolly little 
 wagon ! Who gave it to you ? " 
 
 " Thurston," said Red. 
 
 " How good Mr. Thurston is ! You like him 
 better than Mr. Hardy, don't you ?" 
 
 "Yes, he gave me this cart," said Yellow.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 235 
 
 " No, he gave it to me," roared Red. 
 
 " He did n't ! " 
 
 "Redid!" 
 
 " What else did he give you ? " Mrs. Blossom 
 inquired mildly. 
 
 "He gave me candy and a horse," said Red. 
 
 " He gave me candy and he yubs my ears," said 
 Yellow. 
 
 " He yubs my ears, too," admitted Red. 
 
 "He don't!" cried Yellow, "and you mustn't 
 tell." 
 
 " Well, I did n't tell." 
 
 " You did ! " 
 
 "I didn't!" 
 
 " I did n't tell that he is going to give me a 
 jumping jack if I yub my ears myself," said Yel- 
 low, slyly. 
 
 " He 's going to give me a tin horsey and a doll 
 if I yub my ears," said Red. 
 
 " Do you rub your ears yourself ? " asked the 
 Professor's wife. 
 
 " Yes," replied Yellow, " cause it makes us gyow 
 big and smart." 
 
 " Did Mr. Thurston tell you so ? " asked Mrs. 
 Blossom, affably. 
 
 " Yes," from both protoplasts. 
 
 Mrs. Blossom began to rub the top of her ears : 
 " I want to grow big and smart," she said.
 
 236 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " B'hind, not on ze top ! " cried Red. 
 
 " Now I understand," she said, throwing a hand- 
 ful of peppermints into the little wagon, whereupon 
 both babies began to scrabble ; Mrs. Blossom al- 
 ways smelt of peppermints. 
 
 " There, that 's settled, and just about as I ex- 
 pected. Now I will go tell the Professor. He 
 will be glad to know that you did n't try to deceive 
 him, for he likes you first-rate ; and he can't un- 
 derstand a joke. I mean, he could n't see anything 
 funny in anything that made anybody uncomfort- 
 able, if only for a minute. I can. I think it was 
 just awfully cute now in that Thurston to go and 
 develop combativeness and destructiveness in 
 those little dough-balls, and set them a-fighting ; 
 but the Professor could n't see any fun in it if we 
 should stand pointing it out all night." 
 
 " Ludicrosity," said a drawling voice near us, 
 " is a characteristic of a light mind." 
 
 We turned and saw in a garden chair, not far 
 away, hidden behind a large bush, old Protoplasm, 
 reading. He had heard all that we had said, but 
 evidently did not feel any more alarmed at practi- 
 cal Phrenology than his wife, for he looked as in- 
 different as a personified negative pole. 
 
 " Better to have a light mind than none," said 
 Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 " Possibly," he returned, coming towards us.
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 237 
 
 " Did you hear what we were saying ? " she 
 asked coolly. 
 
 " You said there was something the Professor 
 would not see any fun in. I remember you, May 
 Blossom ; you always turned everything into 
 ridicule. You were making fun of my babies to 
 Mr. Hardy." 
 
 "I deny it, in totof" she cried. "You know 
 very well if I wanted to make fun of any one it 
 would be of you, and not your children. I declare 
 I don't believe you heard what we said. But you 
 do know that your innocent offsprings had a little 
 fight a while ago, I suppose." 
 
 " So Consolation said ; and she told me that 
 some of you believed that Professor Blossom had 
 suddenly, within a few days, developed the germs 
 of antagonism in them by treating them after one 
 of his little charts that he has got up to show his 
 classes ; but I told Consolation that whoever put 
 those ribbons on them was the one to blame ; and 
 the only one she should hold responsible for the 
 fighting. If I had been there I should let them 
 fight it out." 
 
 " That 's just like a man, to lay it all to those 
 innocent ribbons," said Mrs. Blossom. 
 
 " The female mind is always susceptible to 
 color," said Emmanuel; "and those babies had 
 never seen a color on one that was not on the
 
 238 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 other. It was a surprise, and they comprehended 
 for the first time that there was a difference, 
 that they were not the same individual. This idea 
 was made stronger by Thurston's giving them 
 different toys, and telling them that one was 
 Mr. Hardy's girl and the other Miss Norton's. 
 You rub the bumps of benevolence and sublimity 
 of one child, until her head is black and blue, and 
 then give more candy to her sister than to her, and 
 you may have an idea that she won't howl, but 
 she will. Take my word for it. You just tell 
 Professor Blossom that if my babies claw each 
 other, it is the blood of their ancestors, the beasts, 
 that is accountable, and nothing he has done ; and 
 if he can make people to order, he better go to 
 work and manufacture a few scientists to counter- 
 balance the abstruse specimens that we have to 
 encounter now." 
 
 "His idea exactly!" cried Mrs. Blossom. "He 
 told me only last night, if he could have Mrs. 
 Temple, and that singer that was here, under his 
 care for a year, he would make wonderful women 
 of them; that they both have great intellectual 
 power, but it is all wasted. Now, just look here, 
 Mr. Temple, how can a practical man like you, 
 when you scoff at Phrenology, how can you 
 accept such nonsensical ideas as your wife 
 holds? She said she believed the children were
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 239 
 
 controlled by bad spirits. How can you believe 
 such stuff?" 
 
 " Who told you I believed it ? " 
 
 " Husband and wife ought to believe the same 
 thing." 
 
 " You make fun of my babies ; does it follow 
 that the Professor would do the same because you 
 are his wife? Consolation thinks she talks with 
 people who are nothing but a half-pint of ashes ; 
 does it follow that I believe the same ? Ask Mr. 
 Hardy." 
 
 I begged to be allowed to decline to give any 
 opinion on so delicate a subject. 
 
 " Say nothing about our discovery," said Mrs. 
 Blossom, with her finger on her lips ; and I left 
 them to continue their friendly argument.
 
 240 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BEFORE returning to the house, I walked 
 through the garden, hoping to find Miss 
 Norton, for I had not seen her a moment without 
 Thurston since our betrothal, if I may so call 
 our practical contract, and I wanted to ask her 
 permission to tell him everything. It was true that 
 I had not fallen in love with Clara Norton. Could 
 I not claim that I had kept my promise to him to 
 the letter ? Yet I did not feel quite free from self- 
 reproach. 
 
 I could not make up my mind that Miss Norton 
 avoided me, and yet she showed no desire to give 
 me an opportunity of speaking again with her. 
 Her perfect ease of manner and unstudied courtesy 
 caused me often to feel that she had forgotten her 
 promise, or ignored it. Her manner to Thurston 
 had grown almost affectionate. Yet I found 
 myself always unable to criticise it unfavorably. 
 He had never referred to the story he told me the 
 first evening I came to The Poplars, nor had I any
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 241 
 
 reason to believe he was suffering from unrequited 
 love ; but I was suffering from uneasiness, and I 
 imagined it came from the idea that I had not 
 acted quite honorably toward him. 
 
 I did not find Miss Norton in the garden, and I 
 was going indoors to look for her when Consola- 
 tion, who sat upon the piazza, with Maria Williams, 
 asked me when I had heard from my friend. 
 
 "What friend?" I inquired, a little puzzled, 
 for I could not believe she would speak of D wight 
 Salem. 
 
 " Why, little Mr. Salem, of course," she replied. 
 
 " He is doing very well," I said, as carelessly as 
 I could. 
 
 " Come here and tell us how it happened," and 
 she drew aside the folds of her white dress and 
 pointed to a low chair beside her. 
 
 " I am sure," I told her as I sat down, " I know 
 no more about it than you do." 
 
 " I am very sure you do," and I felt her eyes 
 settling upon me. 
 
 There was a faint color in her pale face, and the 
 strong rays of the sun, her worst enemy, were held 
 from her by the kindly intervention of a heavy 
 awning. Her tall, slender figure seemed to fall 
 naturally into graceful postures. Her eyes went 
 straight into a man's imagination, and as they fell 
 upon me I thought of Salem, and felt a trifle sorry 
 16
 
 242 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 for him ; but when she spread her cold, artificial 
 smile, a smile which sometimes varied in extent 
 but never in quality, and I heard her soulless 
 voice, a great indignation seized me at the pos- 
 sibility of her thinking that I intended to give her 
 to understand that we both knew the truth, and 
 I said, 
 
 " If you want my private opinion of the accident, 
 Mrs. Temple, I will give it to you." Before she 
 could reply, I continued, " I believe you to be the 
 cause." 
 
 " Do you ? " 
 
 I could not interpret her tone. " Yes, and I will 
 give you my reasons, and we shall see if Mrs. 
 Williams does not agree with me." 
 
 " Let us see," said that lady. 
 
 " The last person to talk with Salem before the 
 accident was Mrs. Temple. It was evening. What 
 more natural than to suppose that Mrs. Temple 
 talked on her favorite subject, the coming back 
 of the dead? As she goes on, I can imagine 
 Salem, who is a more imaginative man than you 
 may think, becoming fascinated by the weird ideas 
 which have become so commonplace to Mrs. Tem- 
 ple. While they walk, the air seems filled with 
 formless, viewless, but almost palpable beings. It 
 is all very well when he is by her side, but the walk 
 comes to an end : Mrs. Temple cannot walk all
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 243 
 
 night. He bids her good-night at the farmhouse 
 door, and starts for the Barrys'. For the first time 
 in his life fear takes possession of him. He feels 
 that he is pursued by beings, perhaps fiends, that 
 he cannot see. He goes on a few steps, but feels 
 ashamed as he finds himself turning and coming 
 towards this house. He will come and spend an 
 hour with me, he says to himself, and then go to 
 Mr. Barry's. He turns into the avenue, and a 
 shadow falls across his path; it is only the branches 
 of the trees in the moonlight, but he feels for his 
 pistol, which he never carried until he heard of 
 ghosts, and then comes to him the terrible idea 
 that you cannot damage a spirit with lead. In his 
 foolish terror he goes to replace the pistol, which 
 he forgets he has cocked, and the result is the 
 accident. Who is to blame ? " 
 
 Maria Williams laughed ; but I felt that Consola- 
 tion Temple, behind her cold smile, was trying to 
 read my thoughts. 
 
 " Dwight Salem did not know, perhaps, what he 
 was doing that night," she said. 
 
 " That is just what I claim," said I. 
 
 " He is but an elementary being, at best," said 
 Consolation, calmly. 
 
 " That is a new kind of creature. Am I an 
 elementary also ? " I hastened to inquire. 
 
 " You ! " she spoke so softly I hardly heard the
 
 244 -A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 word ; but she looked at me, and I felt as if she 
 tried to hold me with her magnetic eyes. The 
 blood rushed to my brow, and I was furious that 
 Maria Williams noticed it. I saw her try to 
 smooth away a smile with her hand, as she said, 
 
 " When Mrs. Temple meets a being who is not 
 elementary, it often takes her some time to explain 
 her meaning; and as I have heard it, I am sure you 
 will excuse me, Mr. Hardy," and she left us. 
 
 " If you had known what an elementary was," 
 Consolation went on, apparently not knowing that 
 Maria Williams had spoken, or was gone, "you 
 never could have asked if you were one." 
 
 " Let us see, as Mrs. Williams said. What is 
 an elementary, Mrs. Temple ? I am always ready 
 to learn." 
 
 " Perhaps half the people you meet are elemen- 
 taries, my brother." 
 
 " That is a tremendous per cent ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 "It would be heartrending if one had no faith 
 in the immortality of spirit ; but spirits of higher 
 planes do not mourn, why should we ?" 
 
 " Possibly, if I understood it all, I might mourn 
 sincerely, for I am more easily moved than you, 
 Mrs. Temple." 
 
 " You will never mourn ! Leave that to the 
 elementaries. But you ask what are they ? They 
 are fragments of souls. No, that does not convey
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 245 
 
 the idea, they are the beginning of souls. The 
 upper air is full of them, waiting to be given per- 
 sonality. I have been told recently, by Goethe, 
 that so anxious are they to be counted as souls that 
 they come and are born when they are little supe- 
 rior to the beasts in the field. If they find a por- 
 tion of a human mind unused, they take possession 
 of it, and that accounts for the strange actions of 
 many people. They haunt the weak and foolish 
 minded, with a hope that they can take control of 
 them. It is the same thing as driving out the 
 rightful owner. It was elementaries, I have not a 
 doubt, that controlled my precious babes to-day. 
 Since I have known Professor Blossom, he has 
 been three distinct persons mind you I do not say 
 souls, he has not become a soul yet, and may not 
 for ages ; but being born an elementary, he has 
 been twice driven out of his house of clay by rob- 
 bers, who have no more right to exist as personali- 
 ties than he has." 
 
 I thought if the Professor could hear this, he 
 would feel that Consolation was fairly well avenged 
 for the trifling insult of asking for a cast of her 
 head as a specimen of the lack of conscientious- 
 ness. 
 
 " I wish you had not told me this," I said 
 frankly. 
 
 " And why ?" she asked gently.
 
 246 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 "It gives too much scope to the imagination. I 
 am recently up from a fever, and my brain needs a 
 narcotic rather than a stimulant." 
 
 " Would you not rather learn this before it is too 
 late ? " 
 
 " It is never late enough to learn some things. 
 I wish I had not heard of this." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Now, instead of pursuing the study of practical 
 Phrenology, I shall be all the time studying my 
 fellow-creatures to find out if they are elemen- 
 taries ; and if I discover a sudden change of 
 tastes in myself, or a sudden distaste for what I 
 have formerly cared for, I shall imagine myself a 
 poor elementary, with no abiding place, liable at 
 any moment to be driven out of my own body, or 
 perhaps paying a tailor's bill for clothes I have 
 never enjoyed, but which were worn out long ago 
 by a former dweller in my poor frame. There is 
 no limit to the anguish this idea can entail ! Now 
 I understand what poor Salem was trying to do, 
 he was trying to shoot an elementary that was 
 doing his best to crowd him out of his boots. 
 Mrs. Temple, unless you can prove to me that I 
 am a full-fledged soul, I shall share Dwight Salem's 
 fate ! " 
 
 " I can assure you of it," she said with a smile. 
 "You are a complete soul."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 247 
 
 " How do you know ? " 
 
 " I am given the power to know." 
 
 "How am I to be sure? What authority 
 have I ? " 
 
 " The word of the immortal Goethe. I am 
 always in communication with him ; he is my 
 master." 
 
 " Did he teach you to know elementaries ? Did 
 he tell you that Dwight Salem was one ? " 
 
 " You take me for a dull pupil," she said 
 reproachfully. 
 
 "It would be impossible to associate you with 
 dullness, either as pupil or teacher," I hastened to 
 say. 
 
 For a moment an angry light burned in her dark 
 eyes ; she made no gesture of indignation, and 
 when she spoke her voice sounded as usual ; but 
 I felt as if I had almost caught a glimpse of the 
 true woman. 
 
 " How can any one associate me with anything 
 but dullness ? " she said, in a low tone ; " the lines 
 are fallen unto me in dull places." 
 
 I hoped she would continue to speak of herself, 
 but she said after a moment, 
 
 " Turn and look at those two persons coming 
 through the garden, and tell me what they are. 
 I will wager you ten dollars that you cannot 
 do it."
 
 248 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Without turning, I said, " They are well-grown 
 souls, complete, and full-fledged." 
 
 "Be careful," she said quietly, "you may lose 
 your money." 
 
 " I will not withdraw ; I know the Professor is 
 in the house." 
 
 She held out her hand and said, " I will take the 
 ten dollars ; they are both elementaries. It is 
 May Blossom and my husband ! " 
 
 I gave her the ten dollars, which she thrust care- 
 lessly in her girdle. When May Blossom came to 
 the piazza, her sharp eye detected the bill before 
 she had taken a seat, and she exclaimed, 
 
 " Money must grow round here somewhere on 
 the bushes, when you can put a ten dollar bill like 
 a daisy in your belt, Mrs. Temple." 
 
 " I have seen the time when I would give ten 
 dollars for a fresh daisy," said Consolation, with a 
 manner so royal I could not help admiring her. 
 
 " I never saw the time when I could give it, 
 however willing I might be," said the Professor's 
 wife. 
 
 "Where did you get that?" asked Emmanuel, 
 with a wondering expression in his dark face. 
 
 " A wager," Consolation replied. " Mr. Hardy 
 bet with me and lost." 
 
 " I ought to have told Mr. Hardy not to bet 
 with you. You always get the best of it ; and the
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 249 
 
 worst of it is, Mr. Hardy, she usually leaves it out 
 to such referees as Shakespeare, or Goethe, or 
 Webster, always some authority that you have 
 to reach on a fog ladder, and I have n't learned to 
 go up a fog ladder yet." 
 
 "Anything that goes above your head is a fog 
 ladder." said Consolation, playfully. 
 
 " Well, I must acknowledge that I don't know 
 much of what 's going on after you pass that point. 
 But I am glad you have ten dollars, for we must go 
 to the city to-night ; and I let Samson have the 
 last cent I had in my pockets, and he has n't come 
 back yet." 
 
 11 Why must you go to the city to-night ? " 
 Consolation demanded. 
 
 " I said we must go," he returned. 
 
 " I have no thought of going," she said, raising 
 her head a little, and half closing her eyes; " I am 
 very comfortable here." 
 
 " May Blossom says there is going to be a great 
 party here to-morrow night, and everybody will be 
 very busy. The Professor and May are going to- 
 night. Miss Norton and Thurston are going to 
 have the party. I thought if we could, we had 
 better go before Maria Williams advised it." 
 
 Consolation arose and walked slowly into the 
 house. I had a desire to follow her, for I knew 
 she had some plan of action worthy of observation ;
 
 250 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 but I was obliged to wait and satisfy myself with 
 watching results. 
 
 The Professor came out with Thurston, who 
 tried to draw him into a discussion with Emmanuel 
 Temple; but Mrs. Blossom turned the conversa- 
 tional tide just as it was tending towards the dan- 
 gerous reef of practical Phrenology, and if the 
 infant protoplasts had not appeared on the scene 
 we should have floated on in safety. But 
 Thurston called them to him, and as soon as they 
 reached the piazza he told them to see which 
 could get the hammock first ; whereupon there 
 followed a scramble, a bump, and a howl, which 
 brought Maria Williams and Miss Norton to the 
 rescue. 
 
 " Certainly," said the latter, " these children 
 have changed in a few days. When I first knew 
 them they never quarrelled. See what a blow my 
 child has on her forehead ; look at that ! " and she 
 brought her protoplast to where we were sitting. 
 
 " Don't look at me," I begged, " I am not 
 responsible." 
 
 " You are very good actors, both of you," said 
 Thurston ; " but if you can deceive Emmanuel 
 Temple, you can't the Professor." 
 
 " No," said the Professor, " I am not deceived 
 as to what has been done ; but I cannot tell who 
 has done it, or what was the object."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 251 
 
 *' And I am deceived even less than the Profes- 
 sor," said Emmanuel Temple. " Practical Phren- 
 ology is all right for those who enjoy working for 
 nothing ; I say nothing against it for anybody who 
 likes it. And talking with dead men is all right for 
 those who are willing to expand the imagination at 
 the expense of common sense. But you just take 
 those ribbon-things off those babies, and put them 
 back in one room where nobody ever takes any 
 notice of them, and one always has just what the 
 other has, and they won't fight. I doubt if they 
 ever had their faces washed so many times in a 
 week as Maria Williams and Miss Norton have 
 washed them in a day since they came here. You 
 can irritate a child more by washing its face than 
 by rubbing its ears, because the first operation 
 lacks novelty, while the second must be new to 
 most children. So I tell Consolation that may be 
 it is washing their faces so often that makes them 
 so cross, that, and the ribbon-things, and the 
 candy. But two days at a poor man's boarding- 
 house, with nobody to notice them much, will set 
 them back just where they were before. I 'm 
 glad they did fight ; I thought they were just like 
 me." 
 
 The Professor's long fingers moved restlessly. 
 He looked at the protoplasts, who had gone to 
 their father's lap, and I felt that he wanted to
 
 252 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 assure himself again that their destructiveness and 
 combat! veness had been secretly developed. 
 
 " I am going away to-night," he said earnestly ; 
 " and before I go, I ask most humbly if any one in 
 the class has experimented upon those children 
 that I may be told. With you all, this study per- 
 haps is but the amusement of an idle hour ; to me 
 it is the science of all sciences. If I could be 
 deceived in regard to those two heads, I may be 
 deceived at any time." 
 
 " Professor, you are not deceived ! " cried his 
 wife. 
 
 " May Blossom, be quiet ! " 
 
 " But Professor " she continued, rising from 
 her chair, and going towards him. 
 
 " May Blossom, sit down ! " 
 
 " I will not sit down ! All you want to know 
 you will learn in time. Why do you want to make 
 yourself so disagreeable just as we are going 
 away ? " 
 
 " This is not a moment for amiability," he said 
 solemnly. " I have chosen a science, and upon 
 the altar of that science, were it demanded of me, 
 I would lay friend or foe. Once more, I implore 
 all of this class to tell me the truth in regard to 
 these children. I wish to clear myself before 
 Emmanuel Temple and his wife. I can see to 
 whom they naturally lay this change in the dispo-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 253 
 
 sition of their children, although a mistaken polite- 
 ness may forbid them to speak as they feel." He 
 wiped away the dew of agitation which had gathered 
 upon his skull. 
 
 I looked at Thurston, and marvelled at his brutal 
 silence. He returned my look coolly, and said : 
 
 " Clara is ready for any confession that you will 
 agree to join." 
 
 Emmanuel Temple turned slowly from one to 
 another, until he had looked at each person present, 
 and then said, " No mistaken politeness ever pre- 
 vented me from speaking, if I knew what I wanted 
 to say." 
 
 " Somebody has told me in confidence," said the 
 Professor, " that two members of this class did 
 propose to develop these children without my 
 knowledge ; unless these members admit this to 
 Mr. Temple, I shall be held responsible." 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! " said his wife. 
 
 " That is an expression of a wholly frivolous 
 mind, May Blossom," he said severely. 
 
 "You just come in and help me pack up the 
 heads, and you may get a hint from that frivolous 
 mind of mine that will help amazingly in discover- 
 ing the guilty member of your class." 
 
 He rose reluctantly. 
 
 "Were there ever such stupid people!" said 
 Miss Norton. " Here, Red Ribbon, come here ! "
 
 254 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 and the embryonic opponent to woman's suffrage 
 left her father's knee and stood by Miss Norton's 
 side. " Now, tell me," she said, pushing back the 
 elfish locks that fell over the round brown face, 
 " look at me, and tell me if I ever rubbed your 
 head or your ears. Don't look at Mr. Thurston, 
 look at me ! " 
 
 " No," drawled the protoplast. 
 
 " Did Mr. Hardy ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Did Mr. Thurston ? " 
 
 " Oo must n't tell ! " said my protoplast from her 
 father's lap. 
 
 " My child," said the Professor, gravely, " those 
 faculties which are designated in Phrenology as 
 destructiveness and combativeness are found here, 
 just back of the ear. We all know that somebody 
 has developed yours and your little sister's to 
 almost an abnormal degree, in an incredibly short 
 period of time. Who has accomplished it ? " 
 
 " Yes, who has done it ? " said Maria Williams. 
 
 " Done what? " asked the puzzled opponent. 
 
 " Yubbed your ears," said my protoplast. 
 
 " Thurston did." 
 
 " I knew I was doomed," said Thurston, laugh- 
 ing. " I forgot to work on their conscientiousness, 
 after all the bribes I have given them ! " 
 
 " Explain this to me ! " groaned the Professor: 
 " what does it mean ? "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 255 
 
 "It means that you should always look out for a 
 pupil with a bump of mirthfulness like Mr. Thurs- 
 ton's," said Mrs. Blossom. " I suspected him 
 from the first; so did Mr. Hardy." 
 
 Thurston was so convulsed with laughter that it 
 was some time before he could speak. When he 
 tried to gasp out an explanation, the Professor 
 said, 
 
 " It is enough that the truth of my beloved 
 science has been proved. Let us ignore the details, 
 which will only show that the faculty of ridicule 
 can, when inordinately indulged, produce as great 
 a disturbance as the exercise of faculties which are 
 considered of greater consequence. Let us go 
 now, May Blossom, and pack the heads. We 
 shall go before evening." 
 
 Thurston became suddenly serious, and said he 
 was ready to make a full tonfession if the Profes- 
 sor would listen. At first he only thought of rous- 
 ing the infant protoplasts, and getting the ground 
 ready for Miss Norton and me ; but suddenly he 
 was seized with the temptation to develop them 
 into little Amazons, and throw the suspicion upon 
 us. He said, no matter what we intended to make 
 of them, their propelling faculties must be sharp- 
 ened ; and after all, what harm had been done? 
 None, none. One more fact had been added to 
 the colossal heap of evidence already accumulated
 
 256 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 In favor of practical Phrenology. He ended by 
 saying, 
 
 " To be sure, Emmanuel Temple is not con- 
 vinced ; but to what science can we point which 
 has not had its scoffers ? "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE Professor changed his mind and did not 
 leave that night. Thurston would not listen 
 one moment to the proposition. When I left 
 them, he was trying to induce the Professor to 
 appear as Hamlet at the masquerade party, and 
 Mrs. Blossom as Ophelia. The Professor thought 
 it a better idea to hire a dress-suit and label his 
 head, as that might lead many to become inter- 
 ested in his work. His wife said she did not like 
 to put straw in her hair because it was so hard 
 to get out; besides, she had her doubts about 
 Ophelia's being a dumpy woman. 
 
 Thurston agreed to find out all about it through 
 Consolation, who was in communication with 
 Shakespeare ; but she concluded that it was better 
 for her to consult Miss Norton about her cos- 
 tume, as she had a little more idea of the fitness 
 of things than Thurston. 
 
 Just before evening, Miss Norton came to me 
 looking troubled, and taking me aside said that
 
 258 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 now Mrs. Temple must be urged to stay ; that if 
 she went it was because she was angry, and I must 
 do what I could to keep her. 
 
 " I am sure," she said, " that Consolation has 
 found out some of my plans, and she will spoil 
 them if she is angry. Thurston cares nothing for 
 consequences ; he wants her to go. angry or pleas- 
 ant. You must urge him to ask her to stay. Mrs. 
 Moore will not do it, and I almost wish we could 
 shut Consolation up ! She can spoil everything if 
 she finds out our plans." 
 
 I had not asked Miss Norton anything about 
 her projects, but I had expected she would take 
 me into her confidence ; yet I could not help re- 
 specting the delicacy which withheld her from 
 telling me any plainer that she had discovered 
 Thurston's weakness. I was far from pleased at 
 the idea of again being obliged to try to prolong 
 Mrs. Temple's visit ; but I could not help having 
 a curiosity, if no more, in Miss Norton's plans,' 
 which I felt confident must be beyond common- 
 place, for the few times she had referred to them 
 I thought she looked almost frightened ; and once 
 I had said to her, 
 
 " Remember, we both look upon Thurston as a 
 boy ; but he may have the heart of a man. The 
 most manly men I have ever known were the most 
 simple."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 259 
 
 "I understand," she said hastily. " You want 
 me to tell you what I intend to do, and then op- 
 pose it. No, I cannot tell you. I ought not if I 
 would, because I have promised it shall be kept a 
 secret ; but who can keep anything from Conso- 
 lation Temple, if she pleases to know it ? There 
 is but one thing to do : she must remain here, and 
 then she will be so busy on her costume she won't 
 find time to interfere with my arrangements. But 
 if she leaves The Poplars she will stay in the town, 
 and I know she will ruin all. I have said nothing 
 to Thurston in favor of her staying for the party, 
 but much in favor of her going; now, if I suddenly 
 change my mind and urge him to have her stay, 
 what will he think of me? But he knows that 
 you have already fallen under the spell of her evil 
 eye, and he will not be surprised that you should 
 want to delay her going." 
 
 "That all sounds very plausible," I admitted. 
 " I did ask him to invite her here after his aunt 
 went ; I have never insinuated that I would like to 
 have her go, as you have done. I will tell him 
 that I hope she will make up her mind to go to the 
 party, just as if I took it for granted that she was 
 expected to stay. How will that do ? " 
 
 I was pleased that Miss Norton had taken notice 
 that I often talked with Mrs. Temple; I had be- 
 lieved that she had been too indifferent to notice
 
 260 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 how I had been occupied. But I was rather forced 
 to accept again the old idea of indifference when 
 she said, 
 
 " That will be just the thing, because it was 
 Thurston's idea, that of your falling under the 
 spell of her evil eye ; and he will not be in the 
 least surprised when you ask him to urge her to 
 stay. Now, I depend upon you, and I know how 
 faithfully you keep a promise if you once make it. 
 I shall not give one more thought to her ; and if 
 you knew all I had on my mind in connection with 
 to-morrow night, you would not wonder that I am 
 a little nervous. And if it should turn out dis- 
 astrously, you will not believe that I did it to cause 
 Thurston pain ? " 
 
 " I will try not to think so." 
 
 She smiled and said, " I can ask no more than 
 that." 
 
 Very soon I had an opportunity to seat myself 
 beside Consolation Temple, where I intended 
 Thurston to find me. When he came near, I 
 said, 
 
 " I have been trying to make Mrs. Temple be- 
 lieve that it will be impossible for her to disguise 
 herself to-morrow night so that I cannot recognize 
 her." 
 
 There was something in this which appeared to 
 amuse him very much ; he laughed outright, but
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 261 
 
 began in a moment to guess what character Con- 
 solation had thought of assuming ; but later, when 
 he found me alone, he said, 
 
 "It seems to me that even a mind wrecked by 
 typhoid fever ought to be able to grasp a little 
 more than you do. But if you can bear the wrath 
 of Sarah Jackson Moore and Clara Norton, why I 
 can. And now that you have managed to keep 
 your siren, when I should have arranged to have 
 her go, remember that she is on your hands. If 
 you had said that it was impossible for you to dis- 
 guise yourself so she could not recognize you, you 
 would have hit the bulls-eye, John ; but Consola- 
 tion Temple may be controlled to-morrow night by 
 a hundred dead magicians, for all you know, and 
 I don't want her rinding out my plans." 
 
 "Plans?" said I. 
 
 " Yes, plans in which I needed you ; but now I 
 only ask you to devote yourself to Consolation, 
 and keep her away from me. There will be many 
 more interesting young ladies at the party than 
 she, even for a cold-blooded student ; but you will 
 have no chance now. She has put her worst eye 
 on you, and you are as hard to save as a sparrow 
 when it begins to wheel round the head of a snake. 
 The spirits of the mighty dead are after you ! 
 Good day." 
 
 Before Fortune had taken to cudgelling me,
 
 262 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 nothing annoyed me more than to be misunder- 
 stood ; but as her caresses ceased, I found a grim 
 satisfaction in having my motives misread, my 
 intentions misinterpreted. I was pleased that 
 Thurston thought I was anxious to have Mrs. 
 Temple stay for the party, when it was Miss Norton 
 who desired it. I felt that I had a private under- 
 standing with circumstances which no one else there 
 enjoyed. Even Miss Norton, I believed, thought 
 that I had listened too long to the siren's voice ; 
 but at that very moment Fate, the mother of events, 
 was preparing to teach me what every one must 
 learn sooner or later that she holds in her hand 
 that which may astonish and confound ; and she 
 but awaits her own pleasure as to the hour of its 
 delivery. 
 
 I did not see Miss Norton again that evening, 
 which was a disappointment. I wanted to tell her 
 that Consolation was not only going to stay, but 
 was in a most gracious mood. I felt that I 
 deserved at least a little appreciation for diplo- 
 macy, but evidently she had such confidence in me 
 that she literally had not given one more thought 
 to Consolation or me. 
 
 I did not consider Thurston in his usual good 
 spirits, although he divided his attentions between 
 two very pretty but immature-looking young ladies 
 who had come some distance to be at the party.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 263 
 
 He told me that Miss Norton was busy and would 
 not be disturbed even by him, and I went out and 
 walked awhile up and down the path beside the 
 grim poplars with a faint hope that she would 
 come out and say something about Consolation ; 
 but she did not come, and I was about to go in, 
 when I met Paul St. Clair. 
 
 " Your restless steps did not fall upon the ear 
 you intended them for," he said; "but they called 
 to you somebody who is more interested in you, 
 perhaps." 
 
 " Possibly the very person I want," said I, taking 
 the hand he offered. 
 
 " Come, let us go down in the garden where you 
 sit with Consolation. Do you know, my boy," he 
 went on, as we sat down, " that there is as much 
 difference in chairs, and sofas and garden-seats as 
 there is in individuals ? Some are destined to play 
 parts of great importance in the comedy of life ; 
 while others are made and are left awhile to 
 encumber the earth, and then depart, simply having 
 shown for a time the fashion of their day, whatever 
 it was. Have you noticed this seat ? It is formed 
 by a large, flat rock, and the back is of solid oak. 
 No two persons as they look at it, or recall it, ever 
 see the same person sitting here. Mrs. Moore 
 sees always the bent form and shrivelled face of 
 her husband ; for here is where he sat alone and
 
 264 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 shook in secret as he imagined the cold river that 
 he was nearing. A selfish life, especially at the 
 end, is never pleasant to contemplate. Thurston 
 sees always Clara Norton. And you ? Whom 
 did you dream of in this seat when Consolation 
 came for the five dollars ? Never mind the ques- 
 tion. Go down to the tomb of the man who 
 planted the poplars here, and ask him who it is 
 that he sees when he returns to sit upon this 
 seat." 
 
 " Would he tell me if I went ? " I ventured to 
 ask. 
 
 " Possibly not ; but if you go you will see, 
 standing apart from the other graves, a small, dark 
 headstone; it bears no date, only the words, 
 ' Hester, aged 20.' In his memory it is Hester 
 who sits always on this seat. But do not fear a 
 story ; it was not for that I came to you, but to 
 tell you that I think I may be of service to you 
 to morrow night. Make no preparation, but come 
 to me for anything that you need." 
 
 " Thurston has been kind enough to get me 
 everything, if you refer to costume ; but if you 
 would be so good as to give me a sign so I shall 
 know you, I will keep the secret. I feel as if 
 everybody will have the advantage of me, for 
 Thurston says he can tell me in a moment by my 
 thin legs ; and if I pad them, there still remain my
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 265 
 
 hands. I will own to you that I am not going to 
 put on the costume he thinks I shall wear, but 
 have sent for another." 
 
 " Send for nothing ! " he said earnestly, " but 
 leave it to me. We will meet them on their own 
 ground, my boy ! Let nothing surprise you." 
 
 "You speak as if you knew of something which 
 is hidden from me." Had he found out any of 
 Miss Norton's plans? 
 
 "People who never allow themselves to be 
 surprised lose a great deal. I shall tell you 
 nothing." 
 
 " I can wait. I am willing to be surprised." I 
 was laughing at the curious expression in his 
 face. 
 
 I wanted very much to stay and continue our 
 talk, but felt obliged to return to the house, where 
 I found the Professor labelling his skull for the 
 instruction of the immature maidens. Thurston 
 said Consolation was preparing her warpaint for 
 the next day, or was out of the house looking for 
 prey. He had not seen her since dinner, and 
 Emmanuel was trying to swing himself to sleep 
 rather than face the facts the Professor had for 
 him. I wished I had stayed in the garden with 
 Paul St. Clam 
 
 I could not feel any enthusiasm for practical 
 Phrenology while my whole mind was bent on tak-
 
 266 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 ing up and discarding speculations concerning 
 Miss Norton and her plans for the following even- 
 ing. Why had I not detained her long enough to 
 ask her permission to tell Thurston of our con- 
 tract ? I could not tell him without her consent, 
 and although I had not so much as a hint of her 
 plans, I felt, even before I met Paul St. Clair in 
 the garden, that I was concerned in them. 
 
 I passed a restless night, and in the morning was 
 exasperated to find that Miss Norton had gone to 
 the city, where she must spend the day, but would 
 be back early in the evening. I believed that she 
 thought this the most effectual way to avoid me. 
 
 If I passed a dull day, it was not the same with 
 Thurston. He helped the gardener to decorate the 
 house, gave orders for illuminating the garden, and 
 whatever he touched he seemed to deal with it as 
 if he had served a careful apprenticeship to that 
 occupation alone. When he moved the huge 
 plants that had been brought from the conserva- 
 tory, or greenhouse, he handled them carefully, 
 and spoke of the growth of each as if it was of 
 personal interest to him. His hands seemed to 
 possess the sensitive strength of the elephant's 
 trunk. He could fasten a flower on lace as taste- 
 fully as a woman, or he could move a heavy 
 weight with the ease of an Ajax. 
 
 As we walked together through the garden in the
 
 A Fearless Investigator^ 267 
 
 twilight, I noticed that no light was near the 
 stone seat. "Why is this?" I asked. "This 
 place where I should most naturally sit down is 
 left without light of any kind, while every other 
 spot is illuminated." 
 
 He looked pleased and said, " That is the seat 
 you like best then. If anything happened, would n't 
 it be more likely to happen there than anywhere 
 else in the garden ? " 
 
 " Certainly, if there were no light there." 
 
 " I want to ask you something," he said, as we 
 seated ourselves upon the broad rock. " You have 
 not seen Clara alone a moment since you came 
 here, have you ? " 
 
 I was so unprepared for his question that for a 
 moment I was tempted to give him a surprise in 
 return, by telling him I had seen her long enough 
 to induce her to marry me ; but instead, I said 
 coolly, " Yes, I have seen her alone more than once, 
 if I remember rightly." 
 
 " Yes, yes," he said hastily, " I saw you once to- 
 gether. John, you have not said you have not 
 said anything to her about " 
 
 I felt almost as if the role of the hypocrite and 
 the thief had been condensed in one, and that I 
 was to enact it. Yet I had no wish to appear to 
 him different from what I was ; I would prefer not 
 to deceive him, and I had stolen nothing from him.
 
 268 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You have told her ! " he said. 
 
 " Told her what ? " I asked with a little impa- 
 tience, for the same thought was not in both our 
 minds. 
 
 " What I would not have told anybody else in 
 the world but you ! Yes, you have told her ! 
 That is why she is so kind and gentle, and never 
 makes fun of me now. John Hardy, you have 
 told her ! " 
 
 " That is intended for an assertion, I suppose," 
 I returned mildly. 
 
 He grasped my hand. " We are friends, John, 
 and one friend could not insult another. I will not 
 ask your pardon. Tell me, don't you think that 
 avenue will look pretty swell when it 's all 
 lighted?" 
 
 " Quite swell," I assented, and I envied the 
 mind that was not so old but it could turn and 
 cover the mortification of the man with boyish 
 nonsense. " Now, tell me, did n't you expect Miss 
 Norton back to dinner ?" 
 
 " Certainly, but she did not come." It was his 
 own natural voice again. 
 
 " I wanted to see her very much before evening, 
 but it is evident that she does not mean that we 
 shall know her. Do you suppose I could tell her if 
 she were masked ? " 
 
 " I don't know."
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 269 
 
 " Could you ? " 
 
 " Well, I like that ! " 
 
 " You imagine you could. But let her wear 
 gloves, high-heeled shoes, and cover her hair, or 
 put on dark hair, and I '11 wager a diamond that 
 Robert Ryan would not know her." 
 
 " Robert Ryan ! " he said, savagely. " I did not 
 say he would ; but I should know her if she were 
 covered with rags or" royal purple ! " 
 
 " I wish you would tell me how ; for if I don't 
 see her before she is arrayed, I must have some 
 means of identification." 
 
 " I love her," he said simply. 
 
 " That is nothing that could be imparted; I fear 
 if that is the only means you cannot assist me 
 any." 
 
 " I don't want you to know her, or anybody 
 else ; all the fun will be spoilt if everybody is go- 
 ing to know everybody. You will find three com- 
 plete costumes in your room, and I don't know one 
 of them." 
 
 I thought this very thoughtful, and owned that I 
 had felt a trifle depressed at the idea that he would 
 have the advantage of me. 
 
 " Remember one thing," he said, as we returned 
 to the house, "I hold you responsible for your 
 siren. You must be able to account for her every 
 minute of the time until we unmask. As soon as I
 
 270 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 find her out, I will put a card in the orange-tree on 
 the right hand side of the door as you go in the 
 drawing-room. Look out for her ! The Emma 
 Liz came to me this afternoon and said she knows 
 somebody is going to spring some kind of a trap 
 on me, and the spirits are going to help. If Con- 
 solation Temple plays any of her ghost-tricks on 
 me, I want you to know just how she does it. We 
 are honest investigators, you know. We will give 
 her every chance, but if we catch her playing any 
 tricks, well, we '11 watch her, old fellow ! You 
 are the one who wanted her to stay ; and you can't 
 expect to dance, my boy, and not give a penny to 
 the fiddler."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 I HAD just decided to array myself in the hand- 
 some dress of Charles I., when Paul St. Clair 
 came and said he wanted me to appear as a monk. 
 
 " Have you a cowl and a tonsure in your 
 pocket?" I ked. 
 
 He pointed to a large screen I had never seen in 
 the room before. 
 
 " Do not look behind it," he cried hastily, with 
 a queer smile, "but ask with courtesy and con- 
 fidence for anything you need. See, there conies 
 your monk's suit!" and while he spoke a complete 
 costume was thrown outside the screen. He 
 helped me into it with great interest, and did not 
 appear surprised that it fitted perfectly. 
 
 " Has Miss Norton seen this?" I asked. 
 
 " No ; why should she have seen it?" 
 
 " I shall connect her with everything mysterious 
 that takes place to-night, but Thurston will 
 accuse Consolation Temple. Who is behind that 
 
 ? "
 
 272 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " We are late," he said, "let us go down." 
 
 " Sit down awhile, I am in no haste. Tell me, 
 where is your costume ? " 
 
 " No masquerading for me," he said, laughing 
 softly. " Besides, I see that the geniuses in the 
 house will not even wear a domino." 
 
 " You mean the Professor, and Emmanuel 
 Temple ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I rather respect them for it ; they are very 
 uncomfortable, these dominos, and one would 
 make the Professor so warm his labels would not 
 stick." 
 
 He led me to the light, and looked me carefully 
 over. "You won't do. Go to the screen and have 
 your hands covered." 
 
 " Imagine a monk with gloves on ! " 
 
 " Don't get gloves, but have a little more flesh 
 put on." 
 
 "That will take time." 
 
 " Five minutes. Go put your hand behind the 
 screen." 
 
 I did as he commanded, and in an instant I felt 
 cold fingers moving rapidly over my hand. 
 
 " Now the other." 
 
 I offered the other, and felt the same sensation. 
 
 " Don't look at them," he said, and I came back 
 and sat down, keeping my eyes upon the ceiling.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 273 
 
 "Let me see them," said he, taking my hand, 
 which he rubbed gently. " No, go back : it won't 
 bear handling." 
 
 I returned, and again put one hand and then the 
 other inside the screen. 
 
 " Make them older and browner," he said, 
 addressing some one I could not see. 
 
 For a few minutes the cold fingers manipulated 
 both my hands. 
 
 " May I look now ? " I inquired, as I left the 
 screen. 
 
 " Certainly. I don't want to make it at all 
 mysterious; but you are so ignorant and preju- 
 diced, I thought if you knew that it was the spirits 
 at work materializing for you, you might object." 
 
 I seized both his hands. " I have not the nerve 
 of a perfectly well man yet," I said helplessly, 
 " deal gently with me." 
 
 He took my hands in his. They looked both 
 aged and brown. 
 
 " If you are a coward, I can have nothing to do 
 with you; not because I will not, but because it 
 will be impossible. There are willing spirits who 
 will help you. Are you afraid of a little brown 
 skin, which is no more a reality than the cowl you 
 wear so contentedly?" 
 
 He spoke lightly, but I felt that he thought me 
 cowardly. 
 
 18
 
 274 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " This is all rather new to me," I observed, a little 
 stiffly, "but I will try to keep pace with the times.*' 
 
 " Good ! " he said cheerfully. " Put on your 
 mask, and we will descend upon them." 
 
 The rooms below were already well filled, and 
 the notes of a seductive waltz issued from the 
 large drawing-room. I turned to speak to my 
 companion, but he had disappeared, and I was 
 obliged to enter alone. When I left my room I 
 felt disagreeably conscious of my costume, and 
 wished myself in the handsome suit of England's 
 unhappy Charles ; but when I found myself in the 
 midst of the masqueraders, I looked down at my 
 gray robe and aged hands with a strong feeling of 
 confidence. My first thought was to look for Miss 
 Norton. 
 
 Among the dancers I discovered a tall, graceful 
 figure which I took to be Consolation Temple. 
 The dress was as gorgeous as the Queen of Sheba 
 wore when she went to Jerusalem with the hard 
 questions for Solomon. Emmanuel Temple was 
 leaning against the wall, looking with a half-puz- 
 zled expression at the dancers. I approached him 
 and laid my shrivelled hand upon his arm ; then, 
 assuming a feeble voice, I said, 
 
 " My son, can you tell me who that graceful per- 
 son is whose attire even outshines the Queen of 
 Sheba?"
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 275 
 
 " No, sir ; I can't," Temple returned simply. 
 
 " I thought perhaps it might be your wife. Are 
 you not Mr. Temple ? " 
 
 " Yes, my name is Temple, and that may be my 
 wife ; you know as well as I do ; and you may be 
 Thurston for all I can tell. I have not yet made 
 out one person except May Blossom." 
 
 " I should be glad, my son, to know even one. 
 Could you point her out to me ? " 
 
 " Yes, I could ; but she might not want you to 
 know her, so I won't do it." 
 
 I turned, and was going to the orange-tree to see 
 if there was any information for me from Thurs- 
 ton, when it occurred to me that if he saw me take 
 a card from there he would be able to identify me 
 immediately. 
 
 " Have you seen the Professor ? " asked Emman- 
 uel. " You know Professor Blossom, don't you, 
 Mr. Friar?" 
 
 " I do not know him, but I should be glad to do 
 so," I replied, always speaking feebly. 
 
 " I suppose priests never lie," he said drily. " I 
 wonder if you are Thurston Moore ? There is the 
 Professor talking to that Quaker lady." 
 
 Never had the practical Phrenologist looked 
 more like a death's-head. His black, well-fitting 
 suit and the broad expanse of white linen caused 
 him to look paler than usual ; and the few bumps
 
 276 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 which he had labelled looked at a distance as if 
 they might read, " Human skull of an adult male." 
 When I had an opportunity to speak with him, I 
 asked if he would go to the orange-tree on the 
 right of the drawing-room as you enter, and if 
 there was a card there hidden in its leaves, to be 
 good enough to take it to the Queen of Sheba, and 
 ask her to deliver it only to her Father Confessor ; 
 and, I added, " Will you be good enough to put it 
 in an envelope so the Queen cannot read it ? " 
 
 He said he would be glad to serve me, and 
 asked me to tell him where he should find the 
 Queen. I pointed her out, and he left me for the 
 orange-tree. 
 
 I found a seat where I could watch the woman I 
 believed to be Consolation ; for I feared she would 
 open the envelope and read my card if she had the 
 opportunity, and Thurston might write something 
 that he would not care to have fall under her eye. 
 A king and a jester passed me, and bowed as they 
 went by. Presently the jester returned and whis- 
 pered in my ear, 
 
 " Holy Father, I once a jumble stole, and ate it 
 all but just the hole." 
 
 I replied, " If thou, my son, hadst eaten the hole, 
 naught could save thy guilty soul." 
 
 The jester threw back his head and laughed, and 
 I knew the honest ring. Thurston had disguised
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 277 
 
 his voice when he spoke, so I was deceived ; but 
 his laugh had betrayed him. The king perhaps 
 had discovered him at the same moment, for he 
 said impatiently, 
 
 " Come, Fool ! " 
 
 A few minutes later the jester passed me danc- 
 ing with a graceful maiden in the costume of our 
 great grandmothers. The figure seemed as light 
 as air, and part of the time I was sure the tiny 
 slippered feet scarce touched the floor. But the 
 whole head was hidden in an old-time bonnet so 
 deep that, as they flew by, I could not even catch 
 sight of any domino. 
 
 I saw the professor give the Queen of Sheba an 
 envelope, which she hid in her bosom. I had 
 hoped she would put it in her belt, for I had seen 
 Consolation often put letters in her belt as she had 
 the ten-dollar bill. As if Consolation Temple was 
 to be as easily identified as Thurston Moore ! I 
 went slowly towards her, and when I knew that 
 she saw me, I whispered, 
 
 " Thou hast come to Jerusalem, O Queen, in all 
 thy splendor ; but where is the Solomon for thee 
 to admire ? " 
 
 "Perhaps in thee, Father, I may find his wis- 
 dom, if not his glory." 
 
 The voice was not Consolation's. It was proud, 
 but well-bred. I had heard it, but where ?
 
 278 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Thou mockest me, my daughter," I said humbly. 
 
 " I envy thee, Holy Father." 
 
 " Explain, dear daughter." 
 
 " Thou canst go to every one here and make 
 him confess who he is." 
 
 " Will they not deceive me ? " 
 
 " How dare they ? I am brought a letter and 
 told to give it only to my Father Confessor. It 
 may have my name within, yet I deliver it without 
 breaking the seal for fear of thee " ; and she handed 
 me the envelope the professor had given her. 
 
 " A message from Sheba, your Majesty ? " I 
 asked in a feeble voice. 
 
 " I know nothing about it, Father." 
 
 I broke the seal, and read these words : " Dear 
 Abdlard : Keep an eye on He"lo'ise." 
 
 At first I thought of but one thing, that 
 Thurst;on must have discovered me immediately ; 
 and I had thought my disguise perfect, and 
 nattered myself that not even Nanny could have 
 recognized my voice ! 
 
 " Dear AbeMard ! " How did he know me ? 
 And did he mean anything by calling Consolation 
 " Hdloise " ? He had promised to tell me how I 
 should know Consolation Temple, and he had only 
 told me that he had recognized me. 
 
 "You are troubled, Father," said the Queen. 
 " Speak to Rachel : she is much wiser than I."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 279 
 
 She turned to a Jewish maiden beside her, who 
 said, 
 
 " How can I help you, Father ? " 
 
 At this same moment the Queen said, 
 
 " Oh, Rachel, smell the roses ! " 
 
 I turned, and there passed by two dancers so 
 close I could have touched the lady's gown ; and 
 she was all I saw after the first glance, for I knew 
 every fold of that soft white gown and fine lace 
 mantle embroidered with flowers. And the sweet 
 red roses on her bosom, throwing out their rich 
 perfume as they passed, where did they grow, 
 those garden roses ? I forgot the Queen of Sheba 
 and Rachel. I saw only the retreating figure of 
 Jeannette Carlton, and I walked to a quiet corner 
 and sat down. 
 
 In a moment Paul St. Clair came by and said, 
 " I told you to look out for surprises. What has 
 happened ? " 
 
 " A phantom has gone by, and I wish it had 
 been like the Priest and the Levite." 
 
 '' Oh ! you would have been on the other side if 
 it had ! What did the Queen say to you ? There 
 is another Queen wants to see you, and she is 
 almost in despair. I was on the point of helping 
 her, but it is good for people to work a little for 
 themselves. To-night will act upon a few lives in 
 this house as some of these warm days that come
 
 2 So A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 suddenly in early spring act upon the trees in the 
 garden that have stood so long apparently dead. 
 Ah, it is interesting to be in it, and yet care for no 
 part of it ! How would you like to be invisible, 
 and follow each one here, and sit and listen with- 
 out being seen ? " 
 
 " That is an advantage that Nature is too 
 honorable to make a possibility, knowing how 
 mean mankind can be," I said bitterly. 
 
 "If Nature does not forbid such people as 
 Mandy Litchfield to make a human body for a 
 spirit to make a call in, as she has done, you 
 very well know, then she dare not forbid the un- 
 making of that same body ; for no spirit would con- 
 sent long to remain in a material form after he has 
 been out of it ; and if the spirits can unmake the 
 bodies of the Emma Liz's two aunts, why can't 
 they dissolve your body and materialize it again to 
 order ? " 
 
 I staggered to my feet. 
 
 " Where are you going? " he asked. 
 
 " I am going to speak to Emmanuel Temple; I 
 feel the need of talking to a materialist." 
 
 He laughed and said. " Conquer your imagina- 
 tion ! Make it your slave instead of allowing it to 
 be your master. Bring yourself near enough to 
 anything, and it has no power to affright you. 
 Take the red roses in your hand, and see if they
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 281 
 
 can make you tremble. It is not the natural rose 
 you fear, but the flower that grows in your imagina- 
 tion. If you need me, come to your room, you 
 will find me there. Tell me how many persons 
 have you found out ? " 
 
 "Only Thurston." 
 
 " You are sure of him ? " 
 
 " Yes, he is the king's jester. I don't know the 
 king." 
 
 " He is nobody you ever saw. Have n't you 
 discovered Consolation ? " 
 
 " No ; but Thurston has found me out." 
 
 " What makes you think so?" 
 
 " See what he has written," and I handed him 
 the card. 
 
 "And after that you could not find Consola- 
 tion ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " He calls her He"loise." 
 
 " Which is quite natural, as he calls me 
 Aboard." 
 
 " Oh ! you stupid fellow, Consolation never would 
 have been so dull. Go look for a nun ! " 
 
 "It was indeed stupid, I acknowledge; but I 
 was convinced she was the Queen of Sheba." 
 
 "The Queen is quite a different person, believe 
 me. Come to your room in fifteen minutes and 
 change your costume, if you think Thurston has
 
 282 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 discovered you. I '11 have another ready. Come 
 anyway in fifteen minutes. You may regret it if 
 you don't. Remember ! " 
 
 After he left, I sat there looking about for a nun, 
 for I was sure I had seen one when I first came in ; 
 nor was I long in finding her. She sat with her 
 head bowed, her fingers clasping her beads, talk- 
 ing to a jaunty-looking cavalier. I was on the 
 point of going towards them, when a voice behind 
 me whispered my name. Taken by surprise, and 
 believing I knew the voice well, I turned suddenly, 
 but remembered quickly, and started to walk away. 
 Too late ! I had betrayed myself. It was the 
 Queen of Sheba. 
 
 " I knew you, John, as soon as you spoke to me," 
 she said ; "but you did not know me." 
 
 " How could I think of finding you here, Dora ? " 
 
 " Dwight is here. Does not that explain it ? " 
 
 " Can I help you ? " 
 
 " No ; and do not speak to me again. I am with 
 Miss Barry and her brother; I only wished to 
 explain why I was here. If I can speak but three 
 words to Dwight, I will not ask you to say any- 
 thing to him; but if I cannot you will help me, 
 John ? And you, you are much better ? " she 
 hastened to say without giving me time to reply. 
 
 " Sometimes I think I am better, and then I feel 
 as if I had gone back."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 283 
 
 " Don't be imprudent. Good-night." 
 
 I held out my hand, but she did not notice it. 
 She took the arm of a gaily-dressed troubadour 
 who had been waiting at a little distance, and went 
 away. 
 
 I had noticed that some one in a Mary Queen of 
 Scots costume was standing near, but I had for- 
 gotten her in thinking of Dwight Salem. Now, as 
 I started to go away, I saw that she was watching 
 me. I would have passed by, but she laid her 
 hand upon my arm and said, 
 
 " Father, I have a confession to make." 
 
 " I can pardon past sins; but woe unto thee, my 
 daughter, if thou lookest for help from me after 
 to-night." 
 
 " I think I shall have no need of forgiveness in 
 future. I shall die to-night of fright." 
 
 " Speak not to the Church in riddles, my 
 daughter." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Hardy, she is here ! " 
 
 Until she spoke my name I had not recognized 
 Miss Norton's voice. " Who is here ? " 
 
 " The girl that Thurston loves," she whis- 
 pered. 
 
 " I have n't a doubt of it," I whispered back. 
 
 "Then you know her? But you do not know 
 that she does not care for him ? " 
 
 " Certainly I know it."
 
 284 A fearless Investigator. 
 
 " How could you know that when she only ac- 
 knowledged it to me last night ? " 
 
 " She acknowledged it to me the first time I saw 
 her." 
 
 " How strange ! When I spoke of you, she did 
 not say that she had even met you. Oh ! I wish I 
 had never allowed myself to be led into this ! He 
 has gone now into the other room, and she is 
 there ; perhaps by this time he has seen her." 
 
 " Miss Norton, are you delirious ; or am I ?" 
 
 " I hope it is I, and that I shall awake in sound 
 mind soon. I try to be calm, but I cannot. 
 What if she should disappear while he is talking 
 with her, and he should go crazy ! It would be my 
 fault, and I should never know another day's hap- 
 piness ! You have strong nerves, you come 
 with me, and together we can persuade her to go 
 away and not come back." 
 
 " Mary Stuart, it is a physician you need and 
 not a priest." 
 
 " How can you speak with levity when I am so 
 miserably anxious ? I am sure to-morrow every 
 hair on my head will be silver ! " 
 
 " Never give up gold for silver, Mary Stuart." 
 
 While talking, we had walked through the draw- 
 ing room, and now we stood by the door looking 
 across the broad hall into the room opposite. 
 Suddenly she grasped my arm,
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 285 
 
 " You seem to be fading away out of sight," she 
 said in a terrified whisper. " I am afraid I am 
 going to faint ! " 
 
 I led her to the doorway, and was going to insist 
 upon her removing her domino to take a breath of 
 fresh air, when the king's jester came out from the 
 room opposite, with the lady dressed like Jeannette 
 Carlton on his arm. When they had passed me 
 before, I had brought myself to believe that the 
 likeness to the figure of Jeannette, and even the 
 well-remembered lace mantle, were but accidents 
 of masquerade ; but now I heard her voice and 
 could not be mistaken. And this was the girl Miss 
 Norton thought Thurston loved ! I forgot what he 
 himself had told me ; I forgot that I had bade 
 Jeannette good-by for all time ; I only felt the 
 jealousy that often returns when the better part of 
 a passion is dead. I took one stride towards them, 
 when Miss Norton said, 
 
 " You too, Mr. Hardy, you too have been led 
 into it ? Look at yourself ! " 
 
 She need not have spoken, for when I had taken 
 the hasty step towards the jester and Jeannette I 
 had reached out my hand, and I now saw my long 
 arm clad only in my shirt-sleeve : the loose gray 
 serge had disappeared ! Before putting on the 
 suit thrown from behind the screen, I had taken off 
 my coat and waiscoat ; and now I found myself in
 
 z86 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 the midst of masked fiends, some of them, among 
 them the jester, nearly convulsed with laughter, 
 while I stood with not so much as a square inch of 
 domino left to hide my identity ! 
 
 I felt for an instant as if I too had not been 
 thoroughly materialized ; then I dashed upstairs to 
 my room, with strength enough in one thumb and 
 finger to strangle old St. Clair.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 287 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OEFORE I reached the top of the stairs I felt 
 * ' more angry with Thurston than with Paul 
 St. Clair; for Thurston had laughed as if it had 
 been the joke of his life ; and Jeannette Carlton 
 was on his arm I Did I not know them both ? I 
 determined to dress myself as Charles I., and go 
 down as quickly as possible. 
 
 " Did n't I tell you to come up in fifteen min- 
 utes ? " said the old gentleman, the instant I opened 
 the door. 
 
 " Thanks to an overruling Providence, and none 
 to you, sir, that I was left with anything on," I 
 replied, without looking towards him, while I 
 gathered together the Charles suit left upon the 
 bed. 
 
 " I noticed when I left you that it was dissolv- 
 ing," he said calmly ; " that was nearly half an 
 hour ago. Strange you did n't notice it ! Did 
 you go near the air ? " 
 
 " Yes, I went to the door. I am accustomed to 
 wear clothes that will permit me to go to the door."
 
 288 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 "What are you going to do now ?" he asked, in 
 the same genial tone. 
 
 " I am going to put on a pair of breeches made 
 by a mortal tailor," and I held up the royal pair 
 Thurston had provided. 
 
 "Instead of putting more on, make yourself 
 entirely invisible," he said enticingly. 
 
 " Even if that were possible with your diabolical 
 arts, probably just as I had perched myself to 
 listen where I had no business to be, I should find 
 myself suddenly visible, and Thurston splitting his 
 sides to see my discomfort." 
 
 " That could not happen," he said impressively ; 
 "for in order to become invisible, the material 
 part of you must be dematerialized ; and unless 
 you, or the medium, met with some sudden shock 
 to disturb seriously the conditions, and there is 
 much less danger to the medium, I contend, where 
 a material body is dissolved than where a spirit is 
 materialized, no harm could come to you." 
 
 " Do you propose literally to dissolve me ! " I 
 cried in horror. 
 
 "Not you, but your body." 
 
 " I am not ready for dissolution," I said sadly. 
 " Give me Charles's clothes. I am wasting time, 
 and I must see her." 
 
 He said no more, but helped me to dress, and I 
 went down alone. As I passed the orange-tree
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 289 
 
 I saw another card in its branches, which I took and 
 thrust hastily into my pocket, running the risk of 
 Thurston seeing me. I was growing reckless. 
 
 I found no trace of Thurston, Miss Norton, or 
 Jeannette. The nun was still counting her beads, 
 but the little cavalier had been crowded out of his 
 place by the tall king who was handing the pious 
 sister a bill. I had no longer any doubts that it 
 was Consolation ; but had she been betting with 
 him ? 
 
 I took a seat near by and said, " Good evening, 
 sister." 
 
 " Your Majesty is welcome," she said gayly ; 
 then turning to the tall king, who had arisen, 
 " Charles is a feeble monarch ; you surely do not 
 fear him ! " 
 
 There was an open bitterness in the tone that I 
 had never heard in Consolation's voice. I began 
 to believe I had made a mistake in spite of the 
 bill. 
 
 " I don't fear him," the tall king returned ; " but 
 what king ever loved another ? Give me the prayers, 
 sister; I speak for all the beads. Don't sell this 
 Charles even a bit of string between them." 
 
 " Your Majesty wishes to measure your purse 
 with mine," I said, " and I decline." 
 
 " Thou art royally mean," he said laughing. 
 " Wilt thou also refuse to measure swords ? " 
 19
 
 290 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " That were a pleasure my conscience would 
 approve," I replied. 
 
 He turned away, laughing good-naturedly. 
 
 " Do not leave us, your Majesty," said the nun, 
 " but stay and measure wits with him." 
 
 " That is a contest I dare not enter, sister," and 
 he stalked away. 
 
 " See, I have vanquished him," said I, taking 
 his seat beside her. 
 
 " Vain king ! Give me a specimen of your 
 cleverness. How many people do you know 
 here ? " 
 
 " Not one. It is bad taste to lift a veil that one 
 has thrown across a face with the express purpose 
 of concealment. I am content to wait." 
 
 " For whom is your Majesty watching so un- 
 easily ? " 
 
 I realized that I had, from the moment I sat 
 down, moved festlessly, watching every one who 
 passed ; and sometimes I had started abruptly to 
 go away with a strong desire to find Thurston and 
 follow him; but I had no wish that Consolation 
 should see my anxiety. At that moment the grace- 
 ful little dancer in the big bonnet passed, and I 
 said, 
 
 " I am impatient to dance with that little girl ; 
 this is the first time I have seen her without a 
 partner."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 291 
 
 " You will have to pay double for a prayer after 
 dancing with her." 
 
 Who is she ? " 
 
 " She is the daughter of Herodias." 
 
 " I will ask her to dance with me." 
 
 " Would it be prudent ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Your Majesty seems a little feeble." 
 
 Did she know me ? I did not wait to find out, 
 but sought the daughter of Herodias, and never 
 did an unfortunate king dance as I danced that 
 night! The music seemed playing for us alone, 
 and the decorations of the room swayed in har- 
 mony with some law which lay hidden in the tiny 
 feet of this little dancer. 
 
 I danced until I was exhausted, and still she 
 moved as lightly, as unweariedly, as at first. Even 
 a king could not say to such a dancer, " I am 
 weary," but I was unable to dance more, when she 
 stopped, saying, 
 
 " Poor king ! you are tired. You did not know 
 what I was." 
 
 " You are the daughter of Herodias," I gasped. 
 "I have not a doubt of it now. I withdraw all the 
 blame I have ever laid on poor Herod ; for I 
 believe you danced with him, and not before him. 
 Tell me the truth, now," and I looked down at her, 
 at the same time tipping back the great bonnet she
 
 292 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 wore, for it was better to look into the holes 
 of a domino than at the crown of that horrible 
 bonnet. 
 
 " No," she whispered, " do not look ! " 
 
 The warning came too late. I had looked into 
 its depths and it contained no head ! 
 
 When Charles found himself minus that impor- 
 tant part of himself, I doubt if he began to feel the 
 horror that I felt as I staggered away. There was 
 a little room just beyond the library, where Thurs- 
 ton often sat to read and smoke. I felt that this 
 room might be empty, and I wanted to compose 
 myself a little before going up to meet Paul St. 
 Clair again. The door was partly open, and the 
 room was but dimly lighted. I met with some 
 resistance as I went in, but found it was only a 
 chair. At first it seemed quite dark after the glare 
 of the hall and drawing-room, but in a moment I 
 saw that the room was occupied ; I begged pardon 
 for intruding, and went to my room. 
 
 " You are back sooner than I expected," said 
 the old gentleman ; " what is the matter now ? " 
 
 " Give me John Hardy's clothes, and let me 
 leave this accursed place," I groaned. " I know 
 something of the delirium fiends that accompany a 
 first-class fever, but I never knew anything like 
 this night." 
 
 " Come, young man, be reasonable ; has any-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 293 
 
 thing happened that could do you the least 
 harm ? " 
 
 " I have found out the fate of Herodias's daugh- 
 ter ; and I never asked to know her fate. Even in 
 Sunday-school, where to wish to learn it would 
 have been considered a laudable curiosity, I never 
 inquired. Yet to-night when I need all my nerve 
 for my own affairs, I suddenly learn that she was 
 beheaded, like poor John ; and she has danced 
 down all these centuries to meet me to-night." I 
 paused, as I remembered the empty bonnet, and 
 shivered. 
 
 " There is your imagination working again, 
 working you more harm than good," he said, 
 soothingly. " I could explain all about the poor 
 little dancer ; but you are in no mood to be reason- 
 able. To-morrow you will laugh at yourself for 
 your nonsense." 
 
 " Mr. St. Clair," I spoke as calmly as possible, 
 " I am a madman ! I know it but too well. There 
 is no party here. I have not seen Jeannette 
 Carlton to-night. I have not seen anybody. You 
 are a phantom ! I imagine that I am dressed like 
 a friar, and then I imagine I am standing in my 
 shirt-sleeves ; but the worst nightmare must end. 
 I will not leave this room again. If I am no 
 better when the morning comes, send me to an 
 asylum and keep me from disgracing myself," and
 
 294 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 I began sadly to remove the royal suit. Mechani- 
 cally, I put my hand in one of the pockets, and 
 there I felt the card I had forgotten to read. I 
 looked at it without interest until I read the 
 words, 
 
 " It will be decided to-night ! Because she has loved another, 
 I shall not despair. Keep Consolation from the garden ; I 
 have not discovered her. If you dance with the angel in the 
 big bonnet, for your life, don't look inside the bonnet ! It is 
 only a trick, but it might floor you." 
 
 The old gentleman laid his hand upon my arm. 
 " Use your reason," he said, " and let yourimagina- 
 tion rest awhile." 
 
 " Because she has loved another I shall not 
 despair ! " What could he mean, except that he 
 had learned that once Jeanette had loved me? 
 And he had imagined that he had loved Miss 
 Norton, whom he had always known, just as I had 
 always known Dora. And he asked me to keep 
 Consolation out of the garden while he added 
 another page to the history of the old seat that he 
 had purposely left in the shadow. Another page 
 with my Jeannette's name upon it ! 
 
 " I am going back, Mr. St. Clair. I cannot 
 stay here." 
 
 " I will go with you, my son." 
 
 " No, let me go alone." 
 
 " You need me ; let me go."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 295 
 
 " No, no ! If Thurston sees you with me he will 
 know me, for we are so often together ; I must 
 not be known, for I am going to play the part of a 
 coward. Sooner or later every one comes to it. 
 You are kind, but I must go alone." 
 
 " Wait," he urged, " they shall not see me." 
 
 He went behind the screen, and in a moment 
 called, " Come here." I obeyed, and found a 
 woman lying asleep upon a lounge; she looked 
 pale, and breathed heavily ; another woman, very 
 stout, sat near her. He paid no attention to my 
 surprise, but said, 
 
 " Can you see any hand there ? " at the same 
 time holding out an arm towards me ; but I could 
 see no trace of a hand. 
 
 " No," I exclaimed, " what have you done with 
 it?" 
 
 "The real hand is there," he said, "but the 
 natural hand is gone. I wanted you to see it dis- 
 appear ; then you would not be afraid." 
 
 Slowly the whole arm up to the shoulder faded 
 out of sight. I was so much interested I forgot to 
 feel fear. 
 
 " Hold out your hand, " said he, " and let them 
 remove the material part of it." 
 
 I held it out. but before much of it had disap- 
 peared, I was forced to cry out, so strong was the 
 pain. The old gentleman held an animated con-
 
 296 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 versation with the air, and the woman on the lounge 
 groaned. 
 
 " Did n't it hurt you any ? " I asked. 
 
 " Not in the least ; but there is a good reason 
 for that, I am dematerialized most of the time." 
 
 " Not wholly ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 " My very dear boy, how do you suppose I got 
 to Jupiter? Did you think I walked there with 
 legs of flesh and blood, or went in a balloon ? " 
 
 " I thought you went only in fancy." 
 
 " I may have said so, because you were not pre- 
 pared for the truth. Now, look here; this pain 
 is all imagination. I have the word of no less 
 a person than the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus, 
 who practised this art with perfect success in his 
 day. It is he who condescends to dissolve your 
 mortal body for you and make you free for a few 
 hours. He says that there is positively no feeling 
 in matter, and the pain you felt was a disease of 
 the imagination which we call ' apprehension.' If 
 you were asleep he could dematerialize you, and 
 you would never feel it. I am going to be made 
 invisible ; and I am going to hunt up Thurston 
 and all the rest, and know what everybody is 
 saying, and yet remain unseen." 
 
 " I will bear it ! " I exclaimed. " Take me with 
 you ! Do you suppose I have offended the great 
 Hermes by giving way so foolishly to apprehen-
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 297 
 
 sion ? I am not sure that I shall not do it again, 
 but tell him not to notice a few groans ; he must 
 know that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is 
 weak." 
 
 He conversed again with the invisible Hermes, 
 and after a moment said, " There is no need of any 
 pain if you will but keep your imagination busied 
 elsewhere. Close your eyes, and I shall not tell you 
 to open them until I am wholly dematerialized." 
 
 " Shall I be frightened, do you think?" I asked, 
 with a great effort to speak lightly. 
 " Afraid because you see nothing ? " 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Are you usually afraid of nothing ? " 
 " Ah, but you will be here, but I cannot see 
 you! Is it nothing to know that a man is near 
 you, and not be able to see him? Can you speak 
 to me after you are dissolved ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; but you cannot hear it with your 
 natural ear." 
 
 " Just tarry a moment until you tell me a few of 
 those mysterious things which are evidently simple 
 enough to you. Can I hear you speak with my 
 unnatural ear?" My nonsensical talk seemed to 
 give me courage. 
 
 " Foolish boy ! " he said, laughing ; " who can 
 destroy your real ear or eye?"
 
 298 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " It is a great comfort to think so; but is it true ? 
 May I open my eyes, I want to see how much 
 of you is left ? " 
 
 " No ; do not open them until I say the word." 
 
 "Will you tell me how much is left of you? 
 Have you begun to disappear yet?" 
 
 " Be quiet now ; do not speak until I speak to 
 you." 
 
 Left to my own thoughts, I cried out mentally, 
 " Oh, Jeannette, Jeannette ! " and I do not remem- 
 ber opening my eyes, but I looked up, and there 
 stood Paul St. Clair watching me, instead of dis- 
 solving. 
 
 "I beg pardon," I said, "I did not mean to 
 open my eyes." 
 
 " Perfect ! Perfect ! " he cried, with apparent 
 delight. He turned me round gently, and patted 
 me with ecstasy. He grasped my hand, and mur- 
 mured, " You are as dead, my boy, as you can 
 ever be ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " For the first time I 
 felt fear of the man himself. 
 
 " I mean that Hermes Trismegistus has freed you 
 from your material body without a pang to you." 
 
 " You are trying to bewilder me," I said, touch- 
 ing his arm. " Am I not as much in the flesh as 
 you are ? "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 299 
 
 " Exactly," he replied, laughing gayly ; " we are 
 both dematerialized, my boy. We are as free 
 as spirit can be ! Where would you be at this 
 moment ? " 
 
 "At the old seat in the garden," I said bitterly; 
 and even while I spoke I was there.
 
 300 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 IF I had thought about it at all, I am sure I should 
 have been surprised to find that to be cut off 
 from the mortal part of one's self does not make 
 one an angel; but I did not think about it. I 
 was filled with indignation because I believed 
 Thurston loved Jeannette Carlton ; and I did not 
 care to remember the fact that I had no claim 
 upon her, but was bound by golden ties to 
 another. 
 
 I was at the old seat in the garden, but it was 
 Miss Norton, and not Jeannette, who sat there ; 
 and standing before her was the tall king. They 
 had both removed their dominoes ; but what did 
 natural obstacles count for now with me? 
 
 " Look behind the seat," said the old gentleman, 
 " there is the jester." 
 
 Yes, he was there, crouched down without his 
 cap or bells. The tall king was speaking: 
 
 "A woman, though she be as fair as fair as 
 the heavens, is a sad sight, Nora, without a heart 
 in her bosom. The old crone told the truth
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 301 
 
 there was but one heart for us both, and I have 
 kept it, dearest." 
 
 She did not speak. 
 
 " If it is a sin against duty for you to love me, it 
 shall not be reckoned against you, because I have 
 followed you hard and close. It was I who kept 
 our heart, and the sacred flame of love alive in it. 
 If it is a sin, then the sin is mine ; for it is I who 
 will hold you forever ! " 
 
 " Be merciful, Robin ! Be merciful ! " she mur- 
 mured. 
 
 " More merciful than you are to yourself, dear 
 heart," he said, taking the seat beside her. " Give 
 me your hand." She placed the tips of her fingers 
 in his broad palm. " Now the other hand." She 
 obeyed. " Now look at me." 
 
 " I dare not, Robin." 
 
 " Look at me ! " he said, imperatively. She 
 raised her white face. 
 
 " Say to me now, so that I shall not lose a word, 
 ' I never have loved you, Robert Ryan ; I do not 
 love you, and I never shall love you ! ' " 
 
 " Robin, be merciful ! " she pleaded. 
 
 " Say it ! " he demanded, holding both her hands 
 in one, and with the other he raised her head which 
 had dropped as if from great fatigue. 
 
 " You are a brute ! " cried the jester, springing 
 from his hiding-place.
 
 302 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " It is only Thurston," said the king, for she 
 had started up in alarm ; " and who so fit as he to 
 hear you say it ? " 
 
 " Can't you see that you hurt her hands ! " cried 
 Thurston, savagely. 
 
 " Stay with us, Thurston," she implored, "I 
 am afraid," and she tried to withdraw her hands. 
 
 " Say it, and /will leave you," said the king. 
 
 " I dare not, Robin." 
 
 "No, she dare not," declared the king, "she 
 dare not! But until she can, and does, no man 
 shall take her from me." 
 
 " Say it, Clara," the jester begged gently, " say 
 it, and be at peace." 
 
 " Why did you come here, Robin ? Why, why, 
 why ? " she moaned. 
 
 " Thurston sent for me ; is it possible that you 
 did not know I was coming? " 
 
 "No, no! I did not know it; I would always 
 spare you pain. Do not speak to me or take my 
 hand, but listen to what 1 must say to you. There 
 was a time when 1 tried to shut you out from all 
 my thoughts, because you seemed like a part of 
 that dim past which has left upon my memory only 
 the sting of my lowly birth. But I do not mean to 
 talk of ourselves : what can I tell you that you do 
 not know ? But think of my mother, Robin, the 
 only mother I ever knew, who has loved me like
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 303 
 
 her own blood. When I speak of you she only 
 says, ' It would kill me, Clara ! ' She has not long 
 to live, and once to ease her pain I promised. 
 Oh, Robin! better for me if I had walked back 
 and stood in the miserable place where I was born, 
 alone, despised, and waited for you ! " 
 
 " But you did not do it, Nora, because you could 
 not be ungrateful. And I, while my adopted father 
 lived, never spoke your name to him after I found 
 that even the thought of our love enraged him. 
 But when he died and left me all his wealth, with 
 the proviso that I should, before coming into pos- 
 session of it, bind myself never to marry a woman 
 of Irish blood, I flung his dead hand from my 
 heart ! When I found that he had aided me in 
 childhood that he might have a slave when I was a 
 man, and even dead would hold me in his grasp, I 
 felt that I owed him no more, and I refused the 
 chains he had bequeathed me although they were of 
 gold. While he lived I was not ungrateful. You 
 too, dearest, must pay your debt, 't is the penalty 
 of our civilization. But you are mine, and it is 
 your word alone that can separate us and let any 
 man beware that dares to come between us ! " 
 
 He rose as he spoke, and looked so powerful 
 that if I had had my mortal clothes on I should 
 have shivered. 
 
 " Take me away," she said piteously to Thurston, 
 " take me away ! "
 
 304 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 With a cry the jester sprang to her side, and 
 would have taken her hand; but Robert had 
 thrown one strong arm about her, while he repulsed 
 him with the other. But quickly repenting the 
 action, he said, 
 
 "Jealousy is a beastly instinct; yes, worse than 
 beastly, for it knows not friend from foe. Take 
 her hand, Thurston, and forgive me." 
 
 But the jester had turned aside, and I knew his 
 heart was heavy. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! " I murmured. 
 
 " When you thought he loved Jeannette Carlton, 
 you were ready to hate him," said the old gentle- 
 man ; " but when he loves another, you pity him." 
 
 " I pity them all," I returned ; " and I feel as 
 I heard you say once you felt, as if I am in the 
 world, yet no part of it." 
 
 ''Come, Thurston," said Robert, "you are not 
 the man to understand even a feeling that is small 
 or contemptible." 
 
 " I have lost my cap and bells," said the jester; 
 "didn't I have them when I came here?" 
 
 " As you sprang upon us from nobody knows 
 where," said Robert, laughing, " I can't say. Let 
 us go and hunt for them." 
 
 " A jester is a sorry dog without his cap and 
 bells." Thurston was laughing too, but bitterly. 
 
 They went away, and in a moment I heard them
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 305 
 
 enter the house. They had found the bells, but 
 their tinkling did not have a very merry sound ; at 
 least not in my ears. 
 
 Immediately after, the Queen of Sheba and the 
 little cavalier I had seen with the nun came and 
 took the old seat. 
 
 " Do not think I came here to argue with you," 
 the Queen said ; " I only ask you to remember who 
 you are." 
 
 " Do you weally think I am likely to fowget it, 
 Do?" 
 
 " If you say not, that is enough to satisfy me," 
 the proud queen replied. 
 
 " I will tell you, my sistew, what you awe too 
 pwoud to ask." 
 
 " I did not come to claim any confidence." 
 
 " No, you pwoud giwl, you ; do you dweam that 
 
 I thought you felt any feeling so vulgaw as cuwi- 
 
 osity? But I will not twy to deceive you any 
 
 mowe. I used to come to the Bawwy's whenevew 
 
 I knew Mws. Temple was hewe at The Poplaws." 
 
 He was silent for some time, during which the 
 
 queen did not bend her stately head nor move her 
 
 royal lips. When he spoke again, his voice was 
 
 not perfectly steady. 
 
 " I loved hew, Do ! and the Salems nevew love 
 but once. Wejected ow accepted, wowthy or un- 
 wowthy, it is all the same ! and " 
 20
 
 306 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 She raised her hand with a gesture so command- 
 ing that he paused: " Say what you will of your- 
 self, but do not speak for the Salems." 
 
 " The Salems nevew love but once," he repeated. 
 " Somewhewe, Dowa Salem, in this false and 
 wicked woman, thewe is sleeping the woman I 
 love." 
 
 " My dear boy, this place has turned your head," 
 she said, gently, " nor am I surprised ; for you 
 know I have not a strong imagination, and yet I 
 will own to you that when Miss Barry and I were 
 up in our dressing-room, one of the party came 
 into the room unmasked, and such a perfect coun- 
 terpart was she to our great-grandmother Salem 
 that I nearly let a cry escape me." 
 
 " You saw hew then ! And John Hawdy would 
 let me believe that I was getting deliwius. Oh, he 
 is cold-blooded, that John Hawdy ! He is too 
 pwoud to mawwy a lady fow hew money, but he 
 is n't too pwoud to mawwy a waif." 
 
 " Do not forget, Dwight, that John Hardy is our 
 friend," she said hastily. 
 
 " Yes, he is ouw fwiend ; and he is going to dis- 
 gwace himself by mawwing Miss Nowton, who will 
 be as wich as you." 
 
 I saw the proud face of the Queen of Sheba 
 grow white and almost distorted behind her 
 domino ; but she said calmly, " What have we to
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 307 
 
 do with his affairs ? Tell me, did you see the 
 person dressed like Grandmother Salem ? I wish 
 you could have seen her unmasked." 
 
 " Then you believe it was only a guest, do you, 
 Do ? " 
 
 " Did you imagine I thought it was my great- 
 grandmother ? " 
 
 " I thought so. But I was excited, and thought 
 I owed it to a confused bwain. You wewe not 
 excited, and call hew a masquewadew. A ghost 
 would have wathew a hawd time with us, Do." 
 
 " Do you remember the way our father always 
 spoke of his grandmother? For his sake, D wight, 
 do not speak so that one overhearing you might 
 imagine you were a lunatic or a Spiritualist." 
 
 " Spiwitualists nevew talk about ghosts," he said, 
 laughing a little, " they always say, ' spiwits.' " 
 
 " The distinction is beyond my understanding." 
 
 " Then let me twy to explain it : the distinction 
 is just the diffewence between the lady of ouw 
 Gweat-gwandmothevv Salem's day and the lady of 
 ouw day. In Gwandmothew Salem's day, ghosts 
 came only to people of a good name, and only 
 such people expected them. Who evew heawd of 
 ghosts appeawing to tailows and bakews and milli- 
 news ? Ghosts appeawed to theiw own blood, and 
 came when they were weady, without the aid of 
 people so vulgaw that if they had pwesumed to
 
 308 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 intwude into a wespectable house, even with the 
 family ghost, they would have been wemoved by 
 a gestuwe. Thewe awe no ghosts now, thewe awe 
 only spiwits. Was thewe not a stowy that ouw 
 gweat-gwandmothew saw the ghost of hew fathew 
 in the gawden, when she was on the point of 
 mawwying beneath hew?" 
 
 " Yes, I remember it," said the queen, absently. 
 
 " What was it ? " 
 
 " Yes, I remember it," she repeated. " He held 
 in his hand a scroll, with the family tree upon it, 
 and forced her to read every name there ; and she 
 did not dare to marry the man she loved." 
 
 " If I had been in ouw own house, and had 
 seen this pewson, I would have believed, Do, that 
 it was Gwandmothew Salem. But when my 
 gweat-gwandmothew comes back, she will come 
 as a ghost and not a spiwit. Let hew west in 
 peace; I shall not disgwace hew. I have said 
 good-bye to Mws. Temple; I have said good-bye. 
 I shall nevew see hew again, not fow my own 
 sake, but fow youws." 
 
 " Often when we are too weak to see what is for 
 our own good," said the queen, softly, " we do it 
 blindly for the sake of another." 
 
 " I thought you would have a little pity fow me," 
 he said, in a voice which he tried to keep steady. 
 
 " When my brother needs pity, he shall find it ;
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 309 
 
 but there come sometimes to men, and women 
 too, I believe, Dwight, experiences which, like 
 death, they must meet alone." 
 
 I approached her, unheard and unseen, and 
 looked into her calm eyes. It was as if she drew me 
 towards her with the power of her proud, pure mind. 
 The memory even of Jeannette Carlton, and of 
 every other woman, had gone from my thoughts 
 forever. The pale moon of sentimentality had 
 gone down to rise no more ; but the strong sun of 
 sentiment had risen and lighted my soul. 
 
 " Why," I exclaimed to my companion, " did 
 you permit me to do such a dastardly thing as to 
 come here ? This lady I respect more than any- 
 body in the world." 
 
 "That's all right," he said coolly. "It is not 
 the same thing at all for us to play eavesdropper 
 as for people who are in the flesh." 
 
 " But do you see the horrible necessity which 
 your words imply ? " 
 
 " Why, no. I see no horrible necessity." 
 
 "You are right, Mr. St. Clair; none but those 
 who have laid aside the mortal coil have a right to 
 do as we have done to-night. For me, there is but 
 one honorable way to act : the mortal particles that 
 Hermes Trismegistus has dissolved must never be 
 reunited. Can I return and live among people 
 whose secrets I have stolen ? The Earth does not
 
 310 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 want me ; and if I try to enter the world above, I 
 shall be like a guest who came, but was not invited. 
 Go, and ask your wonderful Hermes where I am 
 to dwell in the future ! " 
 
 " Where are you dwelling now ? " he asked, a 
 little impatiently, but much amused. 
 
 " I am upon stolen territory. But I have an 
 idea, a plan, which you must approve. I will go 
 to Jupiter, be reincarnated, serve out the days 
 which Fate allotted me, and when Death, the only 
 lawful dematerializer comes, I will enter the king- 
 dom of the spirit honorably ; and if I find her 
 whose proud soul I have looked into as the thief 
 peers into the casket that was made to hide the 
 jewel from his profane eyes, I will tell her that it 
 was for her sake I quitted the earth, leaving no 
 trace behind me." 
 
 " Do you mean Jeannette Carlton ? " 
 
 " I do not ! " I exclaimed angrily. 
 
 " Pardon me, I thought even mortal love lasted 
 a day." 
 
 " I have never loved Miss Carlton." 
 
 He began to laugh softly, but stopped suddenly, 
 and said, " I am glad to find so much honor stirring 
 in you ; but there is something you seem to have 
 forgotten." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " Our medium."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 311 
 
 " I have nothing to do with any mediums." 
 
 " But our medium has something to do with 
 you." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Hermes Trismegistus can dissolve your mortal 
 frame, but he cannot sever the tie that binds you 
 to it. Let our medium but come out of her trance, 
 and those particles will reunite, and fly to you as 
 bits of steel leap towards a magnet." 
 
 " Mr. St. Clair, I do not believe it ! You would 
 force me to stay where I no longer belong. 
 Farewell ! " 
 
 With spirit, space is annihilated. I longed for 
 Jupiter, and I was there.
 
 312 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MY idea in coming to Jupiter had been to get 
 materialized as soon as possible, which 
 would prevent my returning to the Earth as I 
 feared I should be tempted to do. This thought 
 was strong enough to bring me to the exact spot I 
 needed in the great planet. 
 
 I found myself standing before a large building, 
 which looked like a white temple. The whole 
 front was covered with what I supposed at first to 
 be inscriptions, but upon examination proved to be 
 invitations to all visitors from the smaller planets 
 to enter. These invitations were written in every 
 language I had ever heard of, and many of which 
 I was totally ignorant. I went in and was greeted 
 with the words, " God bless the Earth." This 
 reassured me, and I walked on, passing through 
 a wide corridor where I met many people, prob- 
 ably from my own planet; but they were looking 
 through material eyes and could not see me. I 
 thought that they, for different reasons perhaps, 
 had bound themselves to Jupiter as I was about to
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 313 
 
 do. Suddenly the corridor grew very narrow, and 
 I heard a voice say, 
 
 " A spirit from Earth draws near. It comes to 
 be reclothed in flesh." 
 
 I do not even have to ask for what I want, I 
 thought. Two creatures, fair as angels, took me 
 by the hand ; one said, 
 
 "We are sent to do thy bidding; but art thou 
 so tied to the material life that thou wouldst return 
 to it when thou art free ? " 
 
 " Does one always act from choice ? " I asked. 
 
 " It is not for us to question," said the other; 
 " wilt thou have thy old Earth form ? " 
 
 " Yes, if it be permitted." 
 
 In vain they worked ; nothing appeared that 
 mortal eyes could see. 
 
 " Thou art surely from the Earth ? " they said, 
 with puzzled faces. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Alas ! " said one, " thou hast deceived us. 
 Never before have we failed. It is useless ; we 
 cannot materialize you." 
 
 "Cannot!" I exclaimed, alarmed. "Is then 
 the Earth in advance of great Jupiter? Upon the 
 Earth they can do it." 
 
 " Not to be able to serve thee is to us a sorrow," 
 they said ; " but we cannot, and the reason is hid 
 from us."
 
 314 -d Fearless Investigator. 
 
 I became almost enraged, and approached them 
 angrily. " I demand a place to exist in the flesh ! " 
 I cried, whereupon they looked at me sorrowfully 
 and disappeared. 
 
 I turned to go away, when a tall figure stood 
 before me. His dress was Egyptian, and although 
 I had never seen or heard him described, the 
 moment I looked into his dark face, met his eyes 
 of fire, and saw his nostrils quivering with sup- 
 pressed indignation, I knew that it could be no 
 other than Hermes Trismegistus. 
 
 " Young man," said he, sternly, " you are wanted 
 upon the Earth." 
 
 For an instant I felt a desire to oppose him ; but 
 with a force that left me no will but his, he said, 
 " Return ! " and while the word seemed to echo 
 through every channel of my soul, I found myself 
 standing behind the screen in my room, and Paul 
 St. Clair beside me. I did not at first perceive 
 that he was materialized, but I soon discovered it 
 from the fact that he did not see me. There 
 appeared to be great confusion in the room. The 
 stout woman was talking to Mrs. Moore, and ges- 
 ticulating violently. 
 
 " 'T was n't none of my doin's," she said ; " I 
 was averse to the whole thing from the beginning. 
 It is natural as day, says I, to Mr. St. Clair, when 
 he proposed it, that spirits should come back and
 
 A Fear/ess Investigator. 315 
 
 want to let their friends see and touch 'em, and 
 hear 'em talk ; but it ain't natural, says I, that a 
 man should go out of his body and go poking 
 round in forbidden spears, before he has passed 
 through the valley of the shadder of death. For 
 five years I have been round with this medium ; 
 for three years she has been materializin' and 
 drawin' from me to do it; and never in that time 
 have I seen her in such ag'ny as this." 
 
 " I hope this was not one of your experiments, 
 Thurston," said Mrs. Moore, with real anxiety in 
 her tone. 
 
 "My intention when I got John out here was to 
 put some flesh on him, and now to be accused of 
 taking off what little he had is rather hard to bear," 
 said Thurston. 
 
 " Don't pretend to believe this ridiculous story," 
 said his mother ; " only find him, and I will be 
 satisfied." 
 
 " So shall we all," groaned Thurston. 
 
 " Don't they know I am here ? " I asked the 
 Egyptian. 
 
 " How should they ? " he answered shortly. 
 
 " Who materialized Mr. St. Clair ? " 
 
 " I did, that he might be able to explain." 
 
 " What did you bring me back for ? " 
 
 " That you might learn many things you seem 
 ignorant of now."
 
 316 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " For instance ? " I said, coolly. 
 
 " That you cannot ignore conditions." 
 
 He left me and went to the lounge where the 
 medium lay. When we first came back she was 
 evidently in great distress, but now she was quiet ; 
 and although occasionally she sighed heavily, she 
 seemed out of danger. 
 
 "He has returned," she gasped, "he is safe! 
 As soon as possible you shall behold him again in 
 Earth form." 
 
 " You hear that ? " said the old gentleman. " He 
 is safe, the rascal ! But he has broken all my 
 hopes." 
 
 " What does he mean ? " I inquired of the 
 Egyptian. 
 
 " I will tell you soon." 
 
 Maria Williams put her head in at the door and 
 asked if another medium would be of any assist- 
 ance, and at the same moment old Miss Kimball 
 floundered into the room saying, 
 
 " I have just heard of your trouble, and I come 
 to see if any of you knew that Mandy Litchfield 
 was in the house ? " 
 
 "Who is Mandy Litchfield?" asked the stout 
 woman, turning upon the intruder, with apparently 
 no effort to conceal her contempt. 
 
 Miss Kimball showed her confidence in her 
 niece by remaining unruffled. She had taken her
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 317 
 
 seat, and appeared as if about to go to sleep ; but 
 after a moment her full lips inclined towards a 
 quiet but victorious smile, and she said tran- 
 quilly, 
 
 " She is my niece ; and the only materializing 
 medium who never fails. No dark stances for 
 her ! She can materialize on the way to church or 
 going to the market, and " 
 
 "I have heard about her," interrupted the stout 
 woman, significantly. 
 
 " I am glad," old Miss Kimball returned affably; 
 "but may be you never heard about the time she 
 went to church up in the country to hear Dr. Grace. 
 It was an awful hot day, and when they got to the 
 church they did n't find more 'n half-a-dozen people 
 there. The deacon Deacon Perry, he is Mandy's 
 cousin felt awful over it, because Dr. Grace, he 's 
 from New York, and used to grand audiences. 
 Sez the deacon, ' Mandy Litchfield, I 'd give a 
 hundred dollars to see this church half full before 
 the doctor gets here.' ' Would you ?' sez Mandy, 
 and she pretended she wanted to get a drink of 
 water in the vestry, and she left the deacon settin' 
 in the pew. Before she had been gone many min- 
 utes a stranger walked into the church, and the 
 deacon was pleased enough. Then another came 
 in, and pretty soon they came in by twos and 
 threes and fours, until when Dr. Grace went into
 
 318 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 the pulpit the church was almost full. The deacon 
 was tickled enough, and when he went after Maridy 
 he found her asleep in the superintendent's chair 
 in the vestry. He's so down on Spiritualism that 
 she never told him she materialized that audience 
 just so he need n't feel bad, and she never charged 
 him a cent ! That 's who Mandy Litchfield is ! " 
 
 The stout woman still maintained her scornful 
 attitude. " Materializations," she said, " ain't no 
 more now than raps and writing on slates was 
 twenty years ago. We have ^materialized a man, 
 and he has made tracks for another planet ; here, 
 in this very room, is all the particles of his body, 
 and the spirits won't let this poor medium come 
 out of her trance until he returns and is recom- 
 posed. But we disturb the medium. I only talked 
 to show you that Mandy Litchfield could n't help 
 us!" 
 
 If the stout woman had possessed a soul formed 
 to enjoy triumph, this must have been a happy 
 moment for her. The smile of victory had faded 
 from poor old Miss Kimball's heavy lips, and they 
 had parted helplessly; her whole expression was 
 as if she had just been shaken by the explosion of 
 a powerful piece of artillery and was simply wait- 
 ing for a second shock, which not being forthcom- 
 ing, she staggered from the spot. 
 
 No one had apparently enjoyed this little scene
 
 A Fearless Investigator, 319 
 
 more than Paul St. Clair; but when Miss Kimball 
 had gone, he said, "Thurston, you look pale ; did 
 you understand that your friend was here ? " 
 
 " Show him up, then," said Thurston. " I have 
 had all the nonsense I want for one night." 
 
 " Let everyone leave the room, except those who 
 were here when he left," the old gentleman com- 
 manded. 
 
 Thurston seized him by the hand. " St. Clair," 
 he whispered, "tell me the truth ! Has anything 
 happened ? Is John Hardy dead ? " 
 
 " No more dead than you are," St. Clair replied. 
 
 When they had gone, he went and sat down 
 away from the screen. The Egyptian came to 
 me, and laying his powerful hand upon my shoulder 
 said, in a tone whose supernatural strength and 
 sweetness made me feel rather than hear its 
 sadness, 
 
 " I had hoped to rob Death of his terrors. Fora 
 lifetime I thought of it upon the Earth. I dreamed 
 that sometime I should hold in my hand the power 
 to free the spirit, and yet to hold it, as we can 
 let fly a dove, with a silken thread tied to its wing 
 to draw it back to earth if it soars too high. Men 
 called me ' magician,' ' sorcerer,' for I made visible 
 the faces that Death had destroyed. 
 
 " I passed from mortal scenes and was forgotten ; 
 but the old passion did not die with my body. I
 
 320 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 waited, still studying and working, believing that 
 the time would come when I could lead men forth 
 and prove to them that the body may be dissolved 
 and the spirit still live. For ages I waited for men 
 to be ready for this simple truth. At last I be- 
 lieved the hour of my triumph was at hand; Paul 
 St. Clair had promised to help me. 
 
 " He studied you from the hour you came, with 
 this thought in his mind. He found a medium who 
 agreed to bear her share in the task, and no 
 simple share let me tell you. In my delight at the 
 hope of success, I said, ' Let me not do this at the 
 expense of a moment's pain to a fellow-being.' 
 
 " How successful I was you can witness. When 
 you were free, I thought the first thing you would 
 do would be to turn and look upon the anxious 
 hand that had freed you ; but you did not see me, 
 for your whole narrow mind was bent upon a 
 woman whose face was forgotten in an hour for 
 the face of another. 
 
 " Then you took your cowardly flight, and left 
 us to bear the consequences. But you have taught 
 me that man needs all his experience here, even 
 the fear of death. His ignorance and selfishness 
 are millstones about his neck ; but each man must 
 work out his own freedom. 
 
 " Look at me for a moment. Now close your 
 eyes."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 321 
 
 I did as he commanded. I felt the touch of his 
 hand, and in a moment the stout woman led me, 
 clad in my earthly clothes, to Paul St. Clair. 
 
 Whether it was reluctance to return to this vale 
 of tears, or because my mortal particles had been 
 too hastily reunited, I cannot tell ; but I felt de- 
 pressed and very weak, and was glad that the kind 
 old gentleman, instead of meeting me with con- 
 demnation, simply helped me to bed without a 
 reproach. Still, I think I felt a vague sense of 
 attachment to the Earth that I never knew before 
 as he drew the bedclothes gently over me.
 
 322 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 I DID not open my eyes until the sun was high. 
 The room was shaded by heavy curtains, but 
 between them I could see the bright light, and 
 knew that it must be near or quite midday. Be- 
 side the bed, asleep on a lounge, lay Thurston, still 
 dressed in his jester's suit. Suddenly he awoke 
 and looked at me anxiously. 
 
 " How long have you been awake ? " he asked, 
 rubbing his eyes. " I must have fallen asleep. 
 How are you, all right ? " 
 
 " Yes," I answered, rather dismally. " Is the 
 party over ? " 
 
 " Everything is over." 
 
 "Why don't you go to bed. then?" I felt un- 
 comfortable when I remembered that I had disap- 
 peared, and might have to give an account of my- 
 self. I did not enjoy the way he looked at me, and 
 I asked him what was the matter. 
 
 " Do you know what you have done, John 
 Hardy?"
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 323 
 
 " I imagine I do." 
 
 " Well, sir, do you know that the craziest inves- 
 tigator that ever lived would not have dared to do 
 what you did last night ? " 
 
 "It was your friend who proposed it; and he 
 did not propose any more than he was willing to 
 try himself." 
 
 " He has proposed it pretty often to me, but I 
 never thought of his even trying to take you in. 
 Will you be so good as to get out of bed and 
 prance about a little, just to ease my anxiety ? 
 You were put together last night in considerable 
 of a hurry, and if anything is wrong I am told it 
 must remain so, for the medium says nothing will 
 ever tempt her to be entranced again. You have 
 ruined her business, and it was her husband's only 
 means of support. But will you take the trouble 
 to see how your joints work ? " 
 
 " It would be an insult to the great Hermes," I 
 said, " and I have disgusted him enough already. 
 Besides, Paul St. Clair appeared to have no anxiety 
 about himself." 
 
 " Paul St. Clair ! " he repeated, looking me 
 fixedly in the face. When he saw that I did not 
 retreat, he continued, " Oh, you and Clara treated 
 me well last night ! 
 
 " Listen : I wanted that party to be eminently 
 respectable on your account and hers ; and at
 
 324 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 first I thought of not letting mother and Maria 
 Williams even look in upon us, because they are 
 known to believe in Spiritualism. Then you ar- 
 ranged it so Consolation Temple stayed, and Clara 
 got Mandy Litchfield and old Miss Kimball and 
 shut them up in my little room ; and there they 
 materialized any spirit that came, without asking 
 for any credentials whatever. 
 
 " You know that little dancer in the big bonnet ? 
 She was the last effort. I pushed open the door 
 of the little room, and there I saw poor old Kim- 
 ball ; they had drawn so much material from her 
 that she looked like a great collapsed balloon. 
 This last little one had to go without a head. That 
 was Aunt Marthy's mother's bonnet she wore, 
 that was a real bonnet ; and just before it was time 
 to unmask, the Professor could n't resist the temp- 
 tation, and he took a turn with her ; and while he 
 was waltzing away, with his collar marked ' benev- 
 olence,' and his right shoulder 'self-esteem,' for 
 it was warm, and his labels slipped about a little, 
 all of a sudden he found himself dancing with noth- 
 ing in his arms but the big bonnet ! By Jove ! 
 Wasn't he a scared man ? He retired to give his 
 bump of courage a treatment, and nobody has 
 seen him since. 
 
 " Oh, you can look horrified now, John Hardy ; 
 but what were you doing, at the same time, with
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 325 
 
 Paul St. Clair, a medium, and a fat woman? 
 Maria Williams says you dug your social grave 
 last night, you half materialized monk, you ! Now, 
 don't you think this is all pretty hard on me? 
 Clara Norton, who gave the party with me, down- 
 stairs materializing girls to see if she could find 
 the one I was in love with, and you upstairs " 
 
 " What did you say ? " I cried, springing up in 
 bed. 
 
 " Yes, Clara thought I was in love with Jeannette 
 Carlton, and did not know that she was dead." 
 
 " Jeannette dead ! " I whispered, with a feeling 
 of horror I could not control. 
 
 " Did you know her ? And you did n't know 
 she was dead ? " 
 
 " If she is dead, Thurston, I killed her ! " 
 
 " She did n't say so." 
 
 " What woman would say she died for a man 
 who never owned that he cared enough for her to 
 save her from the grave ? She was a martyr ! " 
 
 How I had changed since I came to The Pop- 
 lars, to be able to speak like this ! " I do not love 
 her now," I continued, as he looked at me in aston- 
 ishment, " but I thought I loved her ; and I 
 allowed her to care for me." 
 
 " I don't want to take any wind out of the sail of 
 your conceit, John ; but when was it that you won 
 and broke Miss Carlton : s heart? "
 
 326 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " Your sarcasm is a balm to my conscience," I 
 said honestly, for I felt perhaps he could contradict 
 the terrible idea which had taken root in my mind. 
 " It was the early part of last summer that I went 
 with Nanny to Mr. Carlton's to board." 
 
 " Just so," said he with a grim smile ; " and I 
 went there in September. I had been to the sea- 
 shore all summer, and wanted a change. It was 
 in September that I won her heart, and it was whole 
 then ; a month later she gave it to a grocer. Oh, 
 I could have borne it if he had been a wholesale 
 grocer, but he was a retail man ! " 
 
 I tried to speak, but found myself only shaking 
 my head feebly. I could not believe his words. 
 
 "It's queer," he said, looking at me in a puzzled 
 way, " that when a bright man does play the fool 
 he can do it as well as he can do anything else. 
 Now, who could think to look at you that you had 
 a country coquette on your conscience ? I never 
 had an idea till to-day that you had a con- 
 science." 
 
 " And she is dead ! " I murmured ; " dead, dead ! 
 And I thought I saw her last night ! " 
 
 " Of course you saw her ; you were looking after 
 her instead of taking care of your siren. Do you 
 know anything about what the siren was doing 
 while you were doing Jupiter ? " 
 
 " She was selling prayers, I suppose."
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 327 
 
 " That was the nun. Later, a beautiful gypsy 
 fortune-teller appeared; by some infernal gift or 
 other she knew everybody, and told some strange 
 things. Many could n't cross her hand with silver 
 because they did n't have any ; and she took 
 pledges, in shape of rings and pins, and anything 
 she could get. Of course, anything was given, 
 and naturally expected back. When the time 
 came for her to show her face, no fortune-teller 
 was to be found. Consolation was again the pious 
 nun. I told everybody the fortune-teller was a 
 friend of yours, and when you came back she 
 would. If those things had not been returned, I 
 should have held you responsible." 
 
 " Then they were returned ? " 
 
 " Dwight Salem came here early this morning 
 and gave me a package ; he said the fortune-teller 
 gave it to him last night to be delivered to me. 
 On opening it, I found the missing valuables. 
 How do you account for that ? * 
 
 In my own mind I had not a doubt that Dwight 
 Salem had bought at a fabulous price these things 
 from the dishonest woman he loved, to save her 
 from disgrace. I simply said, " I should believe 
 what he says." 
 
 " That Consolation Temple gave him those 
 things ? " 
 
 " Why not ? "
 
 328 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " John, he bought them ; and he paid well for 
 them ! Would he care on my account if they were 
 never returned ? Not a bit of it ! You were sup- 
 posed to be connected with the fortune-teller. He 
 did it for you ! " 
 
 " Let it go so, or any way ; for I am too tired to 
 argue, and I feel a strange feeling of lightness." 
 I grasped his hand suddenly and cried, " Call Mr. 
 St. Clair, quick, for I believe I am dissolving ! " 
 
 " Do you mean that you don't know Paul St. 
 Clair yet, John?" 
 
 " Is he really a lunatic ? " I asked in a low tone, 
 for I feared the old gentleman might be near. 
 
 " A lunatic ? No. He is a dead man ! " 
 
 " A dead man ! " I gasped, forgetting that my 
 mortal frame was dissolving. 
 
 " He died seventy years ago," said Thurston, 
 slowly ; " I can take you to the churchyard and 
 show you his tomb. When you first came, mother 
 asked me not to tell you ; because she wanted to 
 know if a spirit could be materialized and stay in 
 the house with people who did not know him and 
 be taken for a genuine mortal man." 
 
 I remembered Paul St. Clair's words : " Come, 
 be reasonable ; has anything happened that could 
 do you the least harm ? " and I answered with a 
 coolness I tried to feel, " Once this might have 
 given me a shock, but after going about with a
 
 A FearUss Investigator. 329 
 
 man who died as long ago as Trismegistus, seventy 
 years seems but a day." 
 
 " I did n't expect to astonish a follower of the 
 great Hermes ; but it was fun to see the old house- 
 keeper going in and out of your room, and you 
 never knowing she was a spirit." 
 
 " It was really Salem's great-grandmother then, 
 the aristocratic housekeeper ? " 
 
 " I don't know who she is ; she came here, was 
 materialized, and asked to stay as a housekeeper. 
 She comes back to have her pride taken out of 
 her. She says pride has been the curse of all her 
 race. Old St Clair says the love of gold was the 
 chronic trouble in his house. Oh, it is all very 
 interesting, John, and I wanted you to see into it a 
 little ; but I had no idea that you would go ahead 
 of us all. Truly, if you were not my guest I should 
 say that you had gone a trifle too far. Since we 
 have had such a fright about you, we've had 
 enough of the thing." 
 
 " You can give it up if you will," I cried ; "but 
 I am a practical Spiritualist, if not a practical 
 Phrenologist You know I am a poor man now, 
 Thurston; I cannot afford to hire housekeepers 
 and servants, yet I must have them. Think of the 
 number of proud spirits who need to walk through 
 the valley of humiliation ! Think of the number 
 of indolent souls that must be waiting for an op-
 
 330 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 portunity to come back and work as many years 
 as they wasted here upon the earth ! Aided by 
 competent mediums, what department in house or 
 office that we could not fill? That is the selfish 
 side of it. Now for a moment think of the benefit 
 we could be to them ! I have not visited The Pop- 
 lars for nothing. I will never close my mind again 
 to any idea however strange or absurd it may look 
 to me at first." 
 
 Thurston did not reply, nor seem to hear my 
 harangue at all. He was bending over the bed, 
 watching me in speechless horror. When he was 
 able to speak, he said in a terrified whisper : " Yes, 
 you are going ; you are fading away, just as the 
 monk's suit faded ! " 
 
 What he had said was only too true. I had 
 slowly dematerialized. As the mortal veil faded 
 from my eyes, I saw again the dark face of the 
 Egyptian. Thurston had bounded from the room. 
 
 " It was done too hastily," Hermes said kindly. 
 " I have sent Paul St. Clair to impress upon Mrs. 
 Moore the necessity of sending immediately for 
 Mandy Litchfield, and you will be solid enough 
 next time." 
 
 If the stout woman could have heard this ! " I 
 have had enough of the solid ; now that I am free 
 again, let me remain so, I beg." 
 
 In spite of my prayer, the great Hermes said :
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 331 
 
 " You must bid me farewell. I shall be able 
 to see you, but you will soon remember me only as 
 a dream. Through you I have proved that which 
 I would have lived or died to have proved when 
 I was upon the earth ; that which I have worked 
 for since I left the earth. But it would be no 
 blessing to man. I renounce the idea while I find 
 myself still holding to it from habit, as you will 
 hold in your imagination the image of the woman 
 you thought you loved, long after you have ceased 
 to cherish her." 
 
 While he was speaking, Thurston returned with 
 his mother, Mandy Litchfield, Maria Williams, and 
 old Miss Kimball, all in a breathless state. 
 
 " You have lost your senses, my boy," cried Mrs. 
 Moore ; " I don't believe you have seen him since 
 he went away." 
 
 " I talked with him in that bed, and saw him 
 disappear, just as you have seen old St. Clair go 
 out," said Thurston, firmly. 
 
 " Well, we can set," said old Miss Kimball, 
 cheerfully, who was probably tired of standing, 
 "we can set and see what comes; and if he is 
 dead and gone, it is because it is his time to go ; 
 and Mandy can bring him back for his friends to 
 see." 
 
 " I wish he had never come to The Poplars ! " 
 sighed Mrs. Moore. " How can I believe this
 
 332 A fearless Investigator. 
 
 absurd story? He went away, and has met with 
 some accident." 
 
 " Why, I don't feel the least scared when you 
 talk about bringing anybody back," said Miss 
 Kimball ; " but the idea of sendin' 'em off before 
 their time did sort of take hold of me for a minute. 
 Lor', Mandy 's off. Now, if there is anything here 
 to materialize, she can do it." 
 
 A mortal suit was made for me rapidly. My 
 psychic sight was closing when I saw Paul St. 
 Clair. 
 
 " Good-bye, good-bye for a time, my dear boy ! " 
 he said, affectionately. 
 
 I reached my hand towards his fading face, and 
 cried, " Good-bye ; " but I am not sure that he 
 heard me, and I never saw him again. Nor was 
 he ever seen more at The Poplars. 
 
 The moment Mrs. Moore was convinced that I 
 was safe, and in my body enough to open my 
 mortal mouth, she poured down my throat a large 
 glass of wine. She did not even ask if I had re- 
 turned a teetotaler. Thurston took up one of my 
 hands and rubbed it gently. 
 
 " I would n't handle him much yet," Miss Kim- 
 ball whispered. 
 
 " Mandy will look out for him now," said Mrs. 
 Moore ; " I am not at all afraid he will go again.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 333 
 
 I cannot realize that he has been invisible : why, 
 it is too wonderful to credit ! " 
 
 Her tone was so confident, I felt sadly sure that 
 I was thoroughly materialized and bound to the 
 earth. I should never see Hermes Trismegistus 
 again ! And my journeys hereafter must be con- 
 fined to this small planet
 
 334 -A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 WHATEVER idea the great Egyptian held, 
 there was no doubt in my mind that Mandy 
 Litchfield had put me together very solidly. I felt 
 sometimes as if I had a body without joints, and 
 sometimes as if I had been cut out of one solid 
 piece of wood, warranted not to be joined in any 
 place. I felt pain often, and always discomfort; 
 and asked Thurston if he thought Mandy could 
 limber me a little. 
 
 She tried to help me, but succeeded only in mak- 
 ing me feel worse ; and I longed for the medium 
 whose work did not seem so satisfactory to the 
 others as Mandy's. I often longed also to see 
 Paul St. Clair; but when it occurred to me what 
 he was, I thought he had caused Mrs. Moore and 
 Thurston anxiety enough, and much as I wanted his 
 advice I would not ask for him. Yet I was suffer- 
 ing the most acute agony from the fear that some- 
 thing was wrong in my materialization. I hoped 
 again to feel the lightness which preceded my disso-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 335 
 
 lution after the work of the other medium, but it 
 did not come. 
 
 The scientific side of my mind then began to 
 torture me with the thought that the first time I 
 was dissolved those particles of matter were not 
 destroyed, nor even changed, or they could not 
 have been considered fit to clothe me again in 
 mortality. What had become of them ? In mate- 
 rializing, they had drawn from the stout woman 
 behind the screen; in dematerializing, must not 
 the same stout woman act as a reservoir, and hold 
 the separated particles until called for? 
 
 It was beginning to grow clear in my mind. I 
 had been dissolved by one medium, aided by one 
 stout woman, and put together by another medium, 
 aided by another stout woman : namely, old Miss 
 Kimball. To a spirit who only desired to come 
 back for an hour and "prance about," as Thtirston 
 called it, it could make no difference what material 
 was used, or what stout person contributed ; but to 
 return as a permanency, there was a strange long- 
 ing for one's own individual corpuscles. 
 
 Where was old Miss Kimball when I was dis- 
 solved ? Was there the slightest reason to suppose 
 that any unconscious affinity drew my dissolving 
 frame towards her ? Was it not much more likely 
 that the mortal particles which had once found a 
 resting-place in the stout woman (whose name I
 
 336 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 did not know), in finding themselves again separat- 
 ing had naturally been drawn towards the same 
 reservoir? I felt convinced of this from the fact 
 that after I had been materialized the first time I 
 did not think of my body at all, whereas now it 
 appeared strange and unnatural to me. There was 
 a heaviness about it which reminded me unpleas- 
 antly of old Miss Kimball, and a tendency to go to 
 sleep even while people were talking to me. 
 
 There was for me but one hope : Thurston must 
 find the medium Paul St. Clair had brought, and 
 demand that she dissolve this cumbrous body and 
 return to me my own habiliments of clay. But 
 what if she should refuse ? Would not the Egyp- 
 tian impress upon her the necessity of coming ? I 
 asked Thurston if he thought he could get her to 
 come and stay long enough for me to ask her a 
 few questions. He said he could probably find her 
 with little difficulty ; but she had taken a solemn 
 vow before his mother and Maria Williams that 
 she would never have anything more to do with 
 materializations, nor would she even talk on the 
 subject. I insisted that I must see her, and was 
 so much in earnest about it that he sent for her, 
 and she came as soon as possible. I was still in 
 bed, for I felt that to stand or move about was 
 impossible. My body would not obey me. 
 
 When the medium understood that I demanded
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 337 
 
 to be remade, she was attacked with hysterics, 
 and but for the tact of Maria Williams I fear she 
 would have run away without giving any attention 
 to my unfortunate condition; but that lady, after 
 much quiet but forcible argument, induced her to 
 say that she would sit just long enough to see me 
 back again in my own clay, and then nothing, 
 neither the promise of money nor fame could ever 
 persuade her to have anything to do with the 
 business again. 
 
 I insisted upon having the same stout woman, 
 and when she arrived I felt that my trouble was 
 nearly over; but just as the medium was closing 
 her eyes, I said to Thurston that perhaps Hermes 
 himself would superintend the work, and I should 
 be very glad to see him again. 
 
 "How will you see him?" asked the medium, 
 rousing herself again. 
 
 " Why, of course I must be dematerialized, 
 that is, thoroughly dissolved, before I can be 
 rematerialized, and sure of my own particles." 
 
 No sooner did she understand this than she 
 became almost violent with anger. " I see through 
 it all now ! " she exclaimed, shaking her head at me 
 in a very rude manner, "I see through it, very 
 nicely! You want to scoot off again to Jupiter, 
 and leave me entranced for Heaven knows how 
 long a time ! No dematerializations for me again,
 
 338 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 if you please ! I will do what I can for you in the 
 body you are in now ; but if you propose to dissolve 
 it, you can get another medium. As for being a 
 kite-string, and holding on to you while you sail up 
 to Jupiter, I would n't bear it again, not if you told 
 me you was put together inside out ; and it ain't 
 reason for you to expect it ! " 
 
 For a moment I thought I could bear the idea 
 of remaining as I was better than I could endure 
 the thought of humiliating myself enough to plead 
 with this woman ; but an unsuccessful attempt to 
 raise my hand conquered my pride, and I said : " I 
 can only give you my word that I will not go away. 
 I am not so ignorant of conditions as I was ; and 
 as for being unreasonable, I only ask for my own 
 mortal body in which to continue my earthly pil- 
 grimage. I was dematerialized by you and this 
 lady, then rematerialized by you, but imperfectly ; 
 and you know the result, utter dissolution. I 
 was again materialized by Miss Mandy Litchfield, 
 assisted by Miss Kimball. I am not satisfied. I 
 find no fault with Miss Litchfield nor Miss Kim- 
 ball; they could not return to me what another 
 held." 
 
 As I spoke these last words I looked unflinch- 
 ingly at the stout woman, who had grown stouter 
 since the party with stolen corpuscles, corpuscles 
 which belonged rightfully to me, I believed. She
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 339 
 
 approached my bed, her face purple with an emo- 
 tion I could not understand, and, shaking her fat 
 forefinger at me, said, 
 
 " You are on a very low plane, young man ; you 
 may call it a scientific plane. You believe you can 
 prove where your earthly tabernacle went when it 
 disappeared ; but it is rather beyond your chemistry, 
 I guess. But I will meet you on your own plane, 
 young sir, as we always have to the unenlightened. 
 We will allow that when you were dissolved the 
 first time, Mandy Litchfield and that Kimball 
 woman was n't round, and they had no control 
 over the matter that you call yours. Then where 
 did they get the stuff they used to make you up 
 again ? " 
 
 " From Miss Kimball," I replied glibly. 
 
 "/ransely, exact\y" she said; "and arguing 
 from your plane, if we dematerialize you now, who 
 is to take charge of that superfluous matter, if you 
 please, sir ? " 
 
 " It is a point I had not considered," I said 
 humbly. 
 
 " You will please consider it." 
 
 The more I considered it the more I was per- 
 plexed, and appealed to Maria Williams. 
 
 " There is but one thing to do," she said cheer- 
 fully. " You must have this body dissolved any 
 way ; let Mandy and old Miss Kimball attend to
 
 340 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 it. That will leave you just as you were when you 
 were in charge of this medium, when you returned 
 from Jupiter; then she will materialize you, and 
 leave you as she found you at first." 
 
 " I defy Mandy Litchfield to dematerialize him !" 
 exclaimed the medium angrily. " I am the only 
 person who ever attempted it." 
 
 " We all know that," said Mrs. Moore, with a 
 conciliatory gesture ; " but Mandy can try. There 
 must be a first time." 
 
 " Let her try it," the stout woman observed 
 loftily, " let her try it, and we will see what we 
 will see ! " 
 
 I could understand that it must be trying to these 
 persons to give up a dematerialization into other 
 hands, and receive the credit simply for anything 
 which had become so hackneyed as to materialize. 
 But I am sure they would have agreed to it but for 
 an unfortunate remark from Thurston. 
 
 " Perhaps after we put him through all that you 
 propose," he said, " the same thing may happen 
 again; he may dissolve right before our eyes. I 
 would rather have him as he is. I tell you there is 
 no such materializer as Mandy ! Look at all those 
 spirits she materialized for the party ! Who knew 
 that they were not living mortal creatures? And 
 when I told them they must all disappear before 
 supper, it was hard work to get them out of the
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 341 
 
 way; they were as solid as statues ! Oh, there is 
 nobody like Mandy for materializing! " 
 
 " I will not stay and listen to the praise of a 
 fraud and a trickster," cried the medium ; " and 
 as for working with her, I never could bring myself 
 to do it, although this is the last time, the very last 
 time, I shall ever have anything to do with mate- 
 rializations or Spiritualists. I refuse now even to 
 be entranced to-day, /sit with Mandy Litchfield 
 in the house ! I care too much for my reputation 
 as a medium ! " 
 
 No tact nor argument was of any avail. The 
 two ladies would listen to no one ; and as they 
 departed, I heard first one and then the other 
 repeating the name of " Mandy Litchfield M in 
 tones of shrill contempt. 
 
 For several days the best mediums in and about 
 Boston were consulted by Mrs. Moore and Thurs- 
 ton, and the result of these consultations would fill 
 volumes. Many of the mediums visited pretended 
 that they had often dematerialized with great suc- 
 cess ; but when Thurston offered them a large sum 
 if they would dissolve a small cat before he engaged 
 them to experiment with me, they refused to at- 
 tempt it ; and the only comfort I derived from the 
 investigations was the satisfaction of enjoying the 
 melancholy distinction of being the only human 
 creature who had ever suffered dissolution before
 
 34 2 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 his appointed time, and the only one ever conscious 
 of a reincarnation. 
 
 There are people who are so constituted that 
 they can enjoy even an abnormal distinction. 
 Unfortunately for me, I was never of that nature. 
 I began to suffer from the idea that Thurston was 
 beginning to look upon me as a phenomenon. 
 This was unjust, I am sure, as no one could have 
 been more hopeful than he whenever he came near 
 me. For a few hours he had the idea of arresting 
 the medium and the stout woman for stealing. 
 But suppose a Court of Equity had allowed my 
 claim ; and the stout woman, awed by the law, 
 had acknowledged her willingness to deliver up 
 her spoils, of what use would it all be to me, 
 while no medium could be found who would dis- 
 encumber me from my present body, which belonged 
 to good old Miss Kimball, who was ready to do 
 anything she could for me, providing it did not 
 require loss of sleep. But until I could be dema- 
 terialized there was no hope ; and the one person 
 in all the world, probably, who could do it had 
 refused. 
 
 Never did a man have a more faithful friend 
 than I found in Thurston Moore. He did not 
 abandon me for a moment ; but when he ceased 
 to meet each hour with a new plan for my deliver- 
 ance, I began to feel a despair that I could not
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 343 
 
 overcome : and from that despair grew the deter- 
 mination that I would deliver myself. 
 
 Before I had taken on the Kimball mortality I 
 had been troubled with wakefulness, and I had 
 asked Thurston to get me some narcotic which I 
 could keep by my bedside. Out of respect for 
 Nanny, who is a rabid homoeopathist, I had only 
 looked at the phial as yet, but I remembered 
 Thurston had said that there was enough in that 
 little bottle to make half-a-dozen men sleep till the 
 judgment day. 
 
 When no one was near, I hid the bottle under 
 my pillow ; and when Thurston's back was turned, 
 I hastily swallowed nearly half the contents. Very 
 soon after, my eyes began to grow heavy ; I tried 
 to keep them open, for I said to myself, " When 
 they close now, it will be forever." Still, when 
 they had closed I felt no regret 
 
 I imagined that I was the kernel of a nut, and 
 the material part that old Miss Kimball had sup- 
 plied was the shell. After a while Thurston came, 
 and, as it seemed to me, rapped upon the shell, 
 and the sound seemed a long time vibrating through 
 the thick wall ; when at last it reached the kernel 
 it only asked if 1 felt sleepy. The kernel answered, 
 " Yes," and the answer was as long reaching 
 Thurston as his question had been reaching the 
 kernel. The peace of forgetfulness was again set-
 
 344 ^ Fearless Investigator. 
 
 tling through the great nut, when another rap 
 came upon the shell : 
 
 " Sleep as long as you can, old fellow ; I '11 find 
 a way out of this for you when you wake up." 
 
 This message was a full half hour reaching the 
 kernel, which answered, " Excuse me if I never 
 wake, will you ? " 
 
 What reply Thurston made I never knew. The 
 dull, heavy shell had refused even to be a medium 
 of sound. Slowly the black curtain of oblivion 
 closed about me, and I felt that no rap could be 
 heard upon its thick, soft folds.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 345 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 you know me, dear ?" 
 
 These words made their escape between 
 a choke and a sob in a voice I knew very well, 
 as I did the face which bent over me. It was 
 my sister Nanny. There was something about 
 Nanny's personality which always seemed to me 
 analogous to the rising-bell. 
 
 I always loved to watch the misty banks of 
 Dreamland fade slowly away, then close all vision 
 a moment and shut out the sharp, hard rocks of 
 reality which rise as the mists disappear. For a 
 moment, when I first heard my sister's voice, I felt 
 as if I had been watching the misty banks too 
 long, and it was time to get up. 
 
 " He does know me ! " said Nanny, joyfully, 
 " and he is afraid I am going to make him get out 
 of bed. That is the way he always looks in the 
 morning." 
 
 " I was sure he would be all right after this 
 sleep," said Thurston ; " Mandy thought so too."
 
 346 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 Mandy ! The name brought it all back to my 
 mind. I turned to Thurston and said, " Why am 
 I here ? I ought to be dead." 
 
 " There, you see he is n't quite clear in his mind 
 yet," Nanny whispered nervously ; " but he knows 
 me." 
 
 I beckoned to Thurston, and asked him if Nanny 
 knew all that had happened. 
 
 He said not everything, and I thought perhaps 
 it was better not to tell her. She sat down by 
 the bed, and Thurston went out and left us to- 
 gether. 
 
 " You did not blame me, John, for not coming 
 before ? " she said, tenderly. 
 
 "Who let you know that anything was the 
 matter ? Why should I blame you ? " 
 
 " Never mind who sent for me ; you are so well 
 now I shall take you home in a few days, and then 
 we shall go straight to the country. Dora drove 
 me out, and she wished to be remembered to you. 
 I don't know what I should have done without her. 
 She has been just like a sister. She was so calm 
 and hopeful, the night Tom and I thought baby 
 was dying " 
 
 " Is the baby sick ? " I exclaimed, for I knew 
 the baby was the mainspring of my sister's life. 
 
 " What else do you suppose could have kept me 
 from you ? "
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 347 
 
 " Why did n't Dora tell me when she was here ? " 
 .1 inquired in an injured manner. 
 
 " When was Dora here ? " Nanny asked, coldly. 
 
 " Possibly she did not want you to know it ; I 
 ought not to have mentioned it, but my head is n't 
 quite level yet." 
 
 " I should think not," she said severely, " if you 
 believe Dora Salem has been here." 
 
 I was on the point of betraying Dwight. " Never 
 mind the Salems," I said hastily, for when she 
 mentioned Dora's name the whole scene in the 
 garden arose before me, " but tell me, is the baby 
 all right now ? " 
 
 " It makes no difference whether you are weak 
 or not; I will not allow you to say, ' never mind 
 the Salems ! ' It is strange that the most incon- 
 siderate and selfish people have the best friends ! 
 There is Dwight Salem, willing to run himself into 
 a shadow to hear from you every day ; and Thurs- 
 ton Moore looks like an old man from taking care 
 of you ; and " 
 
 "I am sure I tried hard enough to die," and 
 truth compels me to write that a tear rolled down 
 my hollow cheek. 
 
 " Why, you must n't talk to him like that ! " said 
 Mandy, coming to my rescue. 
 
 " Never mind," I said pathetically ; " she does 
 not know anything about it."
 
 348 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 " You dear boy, I did not mean to be unkind," 
 said my impulsive sister ; " but you shall not be 
 ungrateful ! And I must not let you talk any 
 more ; I will go away a few minutes until you have 
 forgotten." 
 
 "Don't go, Nan ! " I whispered. "I must tell 
 you something. Jeannette Carlton is dead ! " 
 
 " Don't say such strange things, dear," and she 
 took my hand soothingly. " Who told you she 
 was dead ? " 
 
 " I saw her." 
 
 " Oh, yes, when you were out of your senses !" 
 
 " No, at Thurston's party. Ask him." 
 
 She went to ask him, and was gone so long I 
 went to sleep, and dreamed that Hermes Tris- 
 megistus came and worked hard over me with 
 Mandy Litchfield. "There now you have all 
 that belongs to you," said he ; " don't bother 
 people any more ; you are ungrateful and sel- 
 fish." 
 
 When I awoke I called Thurston and told him 
 my dream, and said I felt much better, and hoped 
 I should not trouble him much longer. Then I 
 asked him if he had told Nanny that Jeannette 
 was dead. 
 
 " Come, old man, hold on to yourself ! " he said, 
 laughing. " When you woke up you knew Nanny, 
 and it was the first time you had seen her. You
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 349 
 
 know everything now as well as I do, and I don't 
 mean to go through any more lunatic waltzes with 
 you." 
 
 I looked at him, and thought he looked heavy- 
 eyed and a little pale. I asked him how long it 
 was since the party. 
 
 "Which party?" he asked, with a grin. 
 
 " The masquerade party." 
 
 " Steady ! " he said, " hold on to yourself ! " 
 
 I tried to obey, while he watched me, still 
 grinning. 
 
 " One question you shall answer," 1 insisted. 
 " When was I properly materialized ? " 
 
 " Steady, old man, steady ! " he said sternly. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " 
 
 " Nothing now, the morning light is breaking ; 
 but you must hold on to yourself with a good grip. 
 You have had a relapse ; but mother, Maria Wil- 
 liams, and I pulled you through with the help of a 
 good nurse." 
 
 " Mandy Litchfield ? " 
 
 " That is the name you call her, and she lets it 
 go. She does n't know who Mandy Litchfield is, 
 though." 
 
 " Jeannette Carlton is dead," I said. 
 
 " Well, who said she was n't ? I don't care. I 
 don't even know who she is, nor did I ever hear of 
 her until you came here."
 
 350 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 "Excuse me; I must remember that nothing is 
 real. I never saw Miss Norton, did I?" 
 
 " Of course you have seen her. Did n't she 
 come the same night you came ? " 
 
 "Certainly; of course I saw her; she is real. 
 Am I going to marry her ? " 
 
 " Marry her ! What for ? " 
 
 " For money." 
 
 " You are the coolest dog ! If you were well 
 but never mind, never mind, you will be all right 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " That 's sensible ; don't get angry, but as I recall 
 things, just separate them for me, and mark them 
 4 real ' and 4 unreal.' I shall soon get straightened 
 out. Now I begin to see the difference, although 
 it all seems pretty real. I shall get it all straight 
 in time. I have seen Miss Norton; have I ever 
 seen Consolation Temple ? " 
 
 " Certainly; the first night you were here." 
 
 " And Emmanuel Temple ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " And the protoplasts ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; don't think you have." 
 
 41 And the Professor, and May Blossom ? " 
 
 " Steady, old man ! " 
 
 41 And St. Cecilia ? " 
 
 44 Now you must take a nap ; you 're off again." 
 
 44 These people are all as real to me as you are.
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 35 1 
 
 Even Mrs. Hardcreeder. I am sure I have seen 
 her, although not so often as the Professor and his 
 wife." 
 
 "^ou have seen my aunt, Mrs. Hardcreeder." 
 
 " And Paul St. Clair ? " 
 
 " Steady ! " 
 
 " I know he is a dead man, but he was mate- 
 rialized, and I am not strong enough to laugh," 
 I gasped, as he made a pretence of choking me. 
 
 " Don't you dare mention that word! " he cried. 
 " What I have suffered from materializing and 
 dematerializing is too much for me to describe. 
 You have been crazy ever since the first night you 
 came here. Anything that happened to you after 
 that date, you can put down in a lunatic's journal." 
 
 I began to look back, laboriously travelling in 
 mind through the weeks of delirium to a sound 
 spot of mental ground to stand upon. I returned 
 to my first evening at The Poplars. I recalled Miss 
 Norton, and Mr. and Mrs. Temple. Then Thurs- 
 ton's story of Nora and Robin. Had any story 
 ever been told me ? I knew as soon as I asked 
 that this was still a reality, although he told me 
 hastily, and with a great effort to convince me that 
 he was delighted, that Robert Ryan had been there 
 while I was ill, and that everything was as good as 
 settled between the two adopted fathers, or would 
 be very soon ; although he believed that Clara
 
 352 A Fearless Investigator. 
 
 would always be despised by Robert's father, and 
 Robert by Clara's mother. 
 
 I remembered Miss Norton's white face, and the 
 tall king, and the unhappy jester. " Some day," I 
 said, " perhaps you will wake, and find that what has 
 seemed like pain is only imagination, Thurston." 
 
 " Very likely," he said ; " but if I do, you won't 
 find me having a relapse, old man." 
 
 In a few days, Nanny thought I was able to go 
 home ; but she was obliged to return without me, 
 as Thurston said I came to " convalesce " at The 
 Poplars, and I had not done it. 
 
 During the three pleasant weeks that followed, 
 I often found myself recalling Paul St. Clair, the 
 Professor, or his wife, or the little minstrel, as if 
 they were people as real as those about me ; and I 
 often puzzled my brain to know what costume May 
 Blossom wore at the masquerade party, and how it 
 was that Emmanuel Temple recognized her, and 
 why Thurston on his first card which he hid in the 
 orange-tree should write as if he recognized Conso- 
 lation Temple, and on the second admit that he 
 had not discovered her. I was tempted at first to 
 change this from the exact truth for the sake of the 
 story, but concluded if I yielded to tin's temptation 
 I might yield to another and stronger. 
 
 I have always believed that a good imagination 
 requires positively nothing in reality for a ground-
 
 A Fearless Investigator. 353 
 
 work ; that the mind which can create the spires or 
 fashion the pinnacles of an imaginary structure can 
 also furnish the foundation stone. But truth guides 
 my pen, and sternly bids it record this little fact, 
 which in a moment of weakness my vanity would 
 have withheld from the confiding reader: before I 
 left The Poplars, I was told that Dwight Salem 
 was shot through the arm while examining one of 
 Thurston's pistols, and when my nurse left me for 
 a moment, I arose from my bed and walked to the 
 opposite room where he lay. 
 
 While the practical reader builds from that little 
 reality all the terrible imaginings of the affair 
 between Consolation Temple and Dwight Salem, 
 I will not withhold a fact, possibly a very accept- 
 able fact to psychologists: the very hour that I 
 saw Jeannette Carlton walking through the draw- 
 ing-room dressed in white, unmasked, in the midst 
 of masked figures, she was in reality walking up 
 the aisle of the little village church on the arm of 
 perhaps the retail grocer; and the organ was 
 playing the Wedding March. 
 
 I married Dora Salem. 
 
 THE END.
 
 TALES FROM THE AEGEAN. 
 
 BY DEMETRIOS BIKfiLAS. 
 
 Translated by Leonard Eckstein Opdycke, With an Introduc- 
 tion by Henry Alonzo Huntington. 
 
 x6mo, 258 pages. Price, $1.00. 
 
 The tales in this volume have a special value in that they reflect the 
 Greek life, thought, and feeling of to-day. They have, moreover, a 
 universal interest for their merit as works of literary art. They are 
 simple, pure, and elevating. Though tinged now and then with melan- 
 choly, their melancholy is of the kind that, instead of depressing, buoys 
 up and elevates the reader. Commercial Gazette, Cincinnati. 
 
 This dainty little book is composed of several tales based upon the 
 life and customs of the inhabitants of the ^Egeau. It opens up a new and 
 attractive field of interest, made all the more fascinating by the strength 
 and vividness of the sketches, and the reality and truth portrayed in 
 the characters, which the translator has carefully preserved throughout 
 Public Opinion. 
 
 Each tale is dramatic, and has as distinct a plot as is compatible with 
 short limits. There is no moralizing ; the author is too eager to tell his 
 story to stop for that. The book should find a wide welcome because of 
 its novelty and high literary merit. It is admirably translated. Literary 
 World, Boston. 
 
 The stories are delightfully told ; humor and pathos in turn call forth 
 our admiration ; and we owe our thanks to the publishers for having 
 introduced this new author to the English reading public. The Boston 
 Times. 
 
 The stories are fresh and striking, simple in style, elemental in their 
 sympathetic appeal. Independent, New York. 
 
 The author portrays Greek life as it is with true poetic realism, and 
 depicts the defects as well as the racial virtues of his countrymen. His 
 stories are like so many dainty water-colors, almost luminous in feeling, 
 and possessing the indefinable attribute called "atmosphere." Beacon, 
 Boston. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. MCCLURG & Co., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVE. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO.
 
 BEATRICE OF BAYOU TfiCHE. 
 
 BY ALICE ILGENFRITZ JONES. 
 I2mo, 386 pages. Price, $1.25. 
 
 A capital story, full of vigor and subtle knowledge of human nature; 
 and it is as vivid and picturesque as the Bayou. Octave Tkanet. 
 
 The author writes with an attractive, graceful style, and with a keen- 
 ness of observation which holds the reader's attention. This love story 
 is vigorously told ; the heroine is a girl with a strong sense of her moral 
 responsibility, and the ethical tone of the story is very high. Boston 
 Journal. 
 
 Mrs. Jones's writing is marked by gracefulness and by considerable 
 strength. Her descriptions, both of persons and of scenery, are uni- 
 formly good and often fine. . . . Take it all in all, it is one of the best of 
 stories. State Register, Davenport. 
 
 The story is very well written, and is entertaining, though inevitably 
 sad. There is nothing exaggerated in it; and the kindly spirit which 
 often existed in the South between master or mistress and the slave is 
 very well represented by the family to which Beatrice and her old grand- 
 mother belonged. The Beacon, Boston. 
 
 A wonderfully touching and pathetic story is that of Beatrice. It 
 appeals to one's sympathies, while it arouses admiration for the purity 
 and sweetness of its tone. It is full of interest, too, and while its pre- 
 vailing tone is pathetic, it is not at all lugubrious. It is in every way a 
 bright and delightful work of fiction. Journal, Milwaukee. 
 
 The writer has plunged into some of the omnipresent racial problems 
 in Louisiana society, and portrays graphically the miseries of a clever 
 and charming girl whose blood has the African taint. Review of 
 Reviews. 
 
 It is more than ordinarily well written, full of fanciful turns of phrase 
 and short, charming pen pastels, and would be agreeable reading even 
 were the story a less pulse-quickening one. The author's style is char- 
 acterized by a quaint and delicate humor. Commercial Advertiser, 
 New York. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. MCCLURG & Co., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVE. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO.
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION OF PHILIP STRONG. 
 
 BY CHARLES M. SHELDON. 
 
 xamo, 267 pages. Price, $1.00. 
 
 
 
 The hero is an honest, forceful minister, who believes that he should 
 not allow his church to be simply a social club. His efforts to stem the 
 tide of luxury and of selfishness are told in a way that will hold the 
 reader interested to the end. Chronicle Telegraph, Pittsburg. 
 
 It is more than a well-written and well-conceived story; it is a gospel, 
 or, rather, the gospel of Christ presented in living form, coming in con- 
 tact with human life, in all its phases and with the great problems that 
 to-day agitate the mind of society. ... If this powerful presentation of 
 truth in story form does not produce a profound impression on the read- 
 ing public, we shall be greatly disappointed. Lutheran Evangelist, 
 Dayton, Ohio. 
 
 The story is one of intense vigor and pathos. It will secure a very 
 wide reading, and it should make a deep impression upon every reader 
 and produce lasting fruit. The Congregationalist, Boston. 
 
 An original and realistic story, both interesting and suggestive of earn- 
 est thought. The Beacon, Boston. 
 
 The story is often pathetic, sometimes dramatic, and always convincing. 
 It is wholesome reading to all, and instructive to those who are led to 
 wrongly believe that the church and its pastors do not make sacrifices 
 for, and are not in sympathy with, the poor of the world. Chicago 
 Record. 
 
 The book abounds in powerful and convincing arguments for right- 
 eousness and truth, and the young preacher with the lofty ideals, though 
 a pathetic figure in his loneliness, commands respect for his self-forget- 
 fulness in a noble cause. Literary World, Boston. 
 
 A fine piece of realistic writing. The duty of the Christian and the 
 Christian minister is clearly unfolded. Herald, Chicago. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on. receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. MCCLURG & Co., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVK. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO.
 
 THE PRICE OF PEACE. 
 
 A Story of the Times of Ahab, King of Israel. 
 BY A. W. ACKERMAN. 
 
 lamo, 390 pages. Price, $1.25. 
 
 It throws valuable light upon an eventful period of the history of this 
 wonderful people, and presents a carefully drawn and lifelike picture of 
 a biblical character too little known, the courageous prophet Micaiah. 
 As a love story it is a gem, and its historical value is marked. Boston 
 Advertiser. 
 
 The author has written a religious narrative of more than ordinary 
 interest. The period is the most picturesque in the history of the ancient 
 Jewish people. Sun, Baltimore. 
 
 It is a vivid and thrilling picture of that wild and distant time, and 
 deepens the interest of the reader in the Bible narrative, while in no 
 way warring against his reverence toward it. Literary World, Boston. 
 
 The stirring events in the time of Ahab have been well wrought 
 together in this book. Micaiah is the hero; Obadiah is skilfully pre- 
 sented, and Elijah appears at intervals. We regard this as an excellent 
 work, alike as a story, a study in character, and a picture of the time. 
 Sunday Journal, New York. 
 
 The descriptions of the region are good, the different scenes well 
 depicted and lifelike, and the lessons inculcated are helpful and natural. 
 
 Public Opinion, Washington. 
 
 In the " Price of Peace " we have a new presentation of the character 
 of Micaiah, who is the hero of Mr. Ackerman's romance. The Bible 
 gives us only a meagre glimpse of the man ; here we learn to know him 
 as a man of passions like unto our own, but wiser and greater than his 
 fellows. The author introduces us to a period of rare interest, and we 
 learn much of Elijah, Jehoshaphat, and King Ahab. More than all, 
 our interest is awakened in the lovely Ruth, and we close the book 
 regretfully in the thought of leaving her and the hills of Zebulon. 
 
 Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. MCCLURG & Co., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVE. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO
 
 MONK AND KNIGHT. 
 
 &n Historical Sttfog in fiction. 
 BY THE REV. DR. F. W. GUNSAULUS. 
 
 Two Vols. izmo, 707 pages. Price, $2.00. 
 
 This work is one that challenges attention for its ambitious 
 character and its high aim. It is an historical novel, or, rather, 
 as the author prefers to call it, " An Historical Study in Fiction." 
 It is the result of long and careful study of the period of which it 
 treats, and hence is the product of genuine sympathies and a 
 freshly-fired imagination. The field is Europe, and the period is 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century, a time when the fading 
 glow of the later Renaissance is giving place to the brighter glories 
 of the dawning Reformation. 
 
 The book deals, in a broad sense, with the grand theme of the 
 progress of intellectual liberty. Many of its characters are well- 
 known historical personages, such as Erasmus, Sir Thomas 
 More, Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII. of England, Francis I. of 
 France, the disturbing monk Martin Luther, and the magnificent 
 Pope Leo X. ; other characters are of course fictitious, introduced 
 to give proper play to the author's fancy and to form a suitable 
 framework for the story. 
 
 Interwoven with the more solid fabric are gleaming threads of 
 romance; and bright bits of description and glows of sentiment 
 relieve the more sombre coloring. The memorable meeting of the 
 French and English monarchs on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, 
 with its gorgeous pageantry of knights and steeds and silken ban- 
 ners, and all the glitter and charm of chivalry, furnish material for 
 several chapters, in which the author's descriptive powers are put 
 to the severest test ; while the Waldensian heroes in their mountain 
 homes, resisting the persecutions of their religious foes, afford 
 some thrilling and dramatic situations. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. McCLURG & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVK. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO.
 
 THE STORY OF TONTY. 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE. 
 
 By Mrs. MARY HARTWELL CATHERWOOD. 
 I2mo, 224 pages. Price, $1.25. 
 
 ' The Story of Tonty " is eminently a Western story, beginning 
 at Montreal, tarrying at Fort Frontenac, and ending at the old fort 
 at Starved Rock, on the Illinois River. It weaves the adventures 
 of the two great explorers, the intrepid La Salle and his faithful 
 lieutenant, Tonty, into a tale as thrilling and romantic as the de- 
 scriptive portions are brilliant and vivid. It is superbly illustrated 
 with twenty-three masterly drawings by Mr. Enoch Ward. 
 
 Such tales as this render service past expression to the cause of his- 
 tory. They weave a spell in which old chronicles are vivified and breathe 
 out human life Mrs. Catherwood, in thus bringing out from the treasure- 
 houses of half-forgotten historical record things new and old, has set her- 
 self one of the worthiest literary tasks of her generation, and is showing 
 herself finely adequate to its fulfilment. Transcript, Boston. 
 
 A powerful story by a writer newly sprung to fame. . . All the 
 century we have been waiting for the deft hand that could put flesh upon 
 the dry bones of our early heroes. Here is a recreation indeed. . . . One 
 comes from the reading of the romance with a quickened interest in our 
 early national history, and a profound admiration for the art that can so 
 transport us to the dreamful realms where fancy is monarch of fact. 
 Press, Philadelphia. 
 
 "The Story of Tonty" is full of the atmosphere of its time. It 
 betrays an intimate and sympathetic knowledge of the great age of ex- 
 plorers, and it is altogether a charming piece of work. Christian 
 Union, New York. 
 
 Original in treatment, in subject, and in all the details of mise en 
 scene, it must stand unique among recent romances. News, Chicago. 
 
 Sold by all booksellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by 
 
 A. C. McCLURG & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 COR. WABASH AVE. AND MADISON ST., CHICAGO.
 
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