The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1912-11-22

VINO assists me in my researches. He
is now, | dare say, waiting for me at
restaurant. l will bring him here"
Hold hard, Xavier!" 1 cried. 81
shall be delighted to make the &C
quaintance of your friend Boissier.
You must, however, remember that 1t
will never do for me, the Chief of the
Detective Police, to let a stranger
know that have recourse to the &C.
cult science to detect crime. The
comic papers would make fine sport
of me. Since you kindly offer to help
me, only you and l must know of it.
But, if you like, you can introduce
me to M. Boissier under another
name, always supposing he does not
know me by sight"
| There is no fear of that" cried
Xavier; ''Boissier has been all his life
abroad, and returned to France only
some six months ago. I'll fetch hin"
A moment later Xavier came back,
accompanied by clean-shaven man
with large face. My friend intro
duced me as M. Martin from Bor-
deaux, and had the pleasure of shak
ing NJ Boissier's fat, fiabby hand.
/ alleged an engagement, and soon
took my leave, after having made
an appointment with Xavier for the
| following day.
When we met, Xavier informed me
that Boissier would put himself at
my disposal IL wanted to hold any
| NJ xnyith he Ath
BOLSTER" he added, sis a wonder
full chap. have the greatest conf
dence in him, and through him you
will, I am sure, arrive at good re-
suits" Suddenly he turned to me
with the question:
Have you heard ] am getting mar
ried?" ..... -. ...-. .-
mo I have no time to go into So
! ciety. Let me congratulate you. Who
is the LADY," ..F ..
He remained silent a moment, ran
his fingers through his hair, and re-
marked:
Her name is Germaine E. Since
you are interested in spiritualism, |
want you to make her acquaintance.
You will find her an accomplished
girl. She is young, very young-too
young for me-" he added in almost a
whisper.
Ieyed my friend narrowly, and dared
not question him, for l felt l was
nearing the secret But he shook his
head, and as we walked together in
the direction of his house, we did not
exchange a word. On reaching his
door l wished him goodnight, when
he seized my arm and said:
Come in; / want to talk to you"
We went into his smoking-room.
and his valet had hardly closed the
door, when he exclaimed:
"Goron, don't go in for spiritualism!
The human mind cannot stand It.
Mine is giving way under the strain"
And then I saw in his eyes the
haunted look that had scared his sis
/ ter.
I put my hand on his shoulder, and
said soothingly:
Il see you are fearfully worried.
You know you can trust me-"
With his eyes half shut, as If in
trance, he spoke so rapidly that I had
some trouble to follow him.
"Goron, the future has been re-
vealed to me. l have heard voices,
and they told me what would happen.
I will perform great deeds, with the
help of a woman, my wife, and her
name is Germaine E. Evil influ-
ences are at work against me; but /
will escape them. thanks to that wom-
an. She, too, has heard the same
voices. and must obey their injunc-
| TONS"
| Xavier paused moment, wiped the
Precipitation from his forehead. and
continued in a quieter tone.
| Were it not for these mysterious
commands, would never marry that
girl-in every way unsuited to me.
But it is in the decree of fate. Next
week our banns will be published"
l had come prepared for something
Of that sort; but this was much more
serious than / had expected, and be-
gan to wonder how much villany
should detect before | came to the
bottom of the affair.
To reason with a man apparently
under kind of spell would have been
folly. / therefore refrained from COM
ment, and said:
81 know of cases where persons, hav-
ing misunderstood the words of the
spirits, have tested the accuracy Of
their commands by other means. Sup
pose We, too. make another test?"
Xavier, who had been nervously pa
cling up and down the room, stopped
in front Of me.
NO." he cried;'I have applied a
test, and one that will put even your
doubts at rest. On the advice of
friend, | went to a famous fortune
teller, and the first thing I heard from
her was that l would marry Germaine.
Don't smile. Goron. Like you l have
always been skeptical of palmists and
their kind. But l heard of another
wellknown soothsayer in Lyons, and
when l called on her she told me the
identical thing. l even went to Ans
terdam, to woman whose address
had been given me. and the result was
the same. Can you wonder when
say that influences are at work?"
Yes, Xavier" cried; you are
right. Influences are at work; but
you and / will prove stronger than
| they"
Poor Xavier. who. of course, did not
/ md he ippar