The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-04-13

exc r.rHHs~s~NU%
reason why I should spare him and let
an innocent man suffer for him."
Especially you loved the in
nocenf man. ! added to myself, but
lips.
AS soon as I told him of my decis-
ien,' Miss Vaughan continued. .he led
me to the room where the crystal
sphere is placed me on the divan. sat
down onposite me-, and began to ex-
plain to me the beliefs OF his religion.
Neaitation, it seems, is essential to it,
an it was by gazing at the crystal that
che acoAd separate ones soul from
ones cody sna 50 attain pure and pro-
Was that your first experience OF
crystal gazing?" Godfrey asked.
Yes; both he and my father had
oiten tried to persuade me to join them.
Ihey often spent whole nights there.
But 1t seemed to me that the breaking
down of fathers will was due to it in
some way; / grew to have a fear ana
honxor of it, and so I always refusedss
Inc change in your father was n
doubtedly directly traceable to it."
Godfrey agreed. During those periods
OF crystal gazing, he was really in a
STATE Of hypnosis, INDUCED by Silva,
Wsth his mind bare to Silva's G
tions; and as these were repeated, he
became more u more a mere echo of
Stlya's personality. That wa what
Silva desired for you, ALSO"
Il felt something of the sort, though
l never really understood it," said Miss
Vaughan; and as l sat there on the
divan that Sunday afternoon. with his
burning eyes upon me, / was terribly
afraid. His will was SO much stronger
than mine, and besides, l could not
keep my eyes from the crystal. In the
end, l had a vision-a dreadful vision"
though it was sfF1 Ssfdre her:
The vision of your fathers death 2"
l questioned.
h nodded.
With Swain as the murderer"
How did you know?" she asked. as
tonished.
Because he induced the same vision
in me the mex evening. But don let
me interrupt"
Il don't know how long the seance
lasted" she continued: "some hours, ]
suppose, for it was dark when l again
realized where / was. And after din
men there was another; n then at
midnight he led me to the roof and
invoked what he called an astral bene-
dction--a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Godfrey smiled drily.
you were overweight, Miss
Vaughan he said, and straight from
a spel of crystal gazing. No wonder it
Eimppessed you. But it was really only
la clever trick"
been a trick she agreed; but at the
time it seemed an unquestionable proof
Of his divine power. When it vas
over, I had just Sufficient strength Of
will remaining to tear myself away
from him and gain my own room n
lock- the door,"
"You mean he tried to detain you?"
Mot with his hands. But I could
feel his will striving to conquer mine.
Even after I was in my ROOM, / could
feel him calling me. In the morning. l
was stronger. 1 lay in bed until nearly
began to fear that I must give 1t up. l
realized that, after a few more nights
like the night before, / should no
longer have a will of my own-that
what I was pretending would become
a reality. / decided that / could risk
very weak M discouraged. You see,
I did not know what to look for, or
where to look. I wanted evidence
against him, but I had no diea what
the evidence would be. I wanted to
search his room, but I had not been
out of it, except when he was with me,
and, besides, Mahbub was always
squatting in tie little closet next to it.
1T got UP, at last, n after break
fast he met me here in the library. He
suggested another seance, but l pleaded
a headache, and he walked with md
about the grounds. I remembered that
you were to come in the evening, Mr..
Lester, and / determined to leave you
with him, on some preteXt, and search
his room then. I told him you were
coming, that l had asked you to take
charge Of my affairs, and it was then
he told me of the legacy he believed
my father had left him, adding that
whether the legacy should stand or not
was entirely in my hands. Then I be-
gan to feel his Influence again, and
managed to excuse myself and go in
doors.
you know what happened in the
evening, Mr.. Lester. AS soon as I left
you, I flew to his room, determined to
search it at any cost. But l was
scarcely inside, when I heard the out
er door open, and l had just time to get
behind the curtains in one corner,
when someone entered. Peering out, /
saw that it was Mahbub. He looked
about for q moment, n then sat dow
on the divan, folded his feet under him,
and fell into q contemplation Of the
sphere. 1 scarcely dared to breathe. /
was always afraid Of Mahbub," she
added; Far more SO than Of Senior
Silva. ABOUT Senior Silva there was at
least something warm n human; but
Mahbub impressed me somehow as a
brother Of the snake, he seemed SO cold
and
you knew he was dead?" I asked,
as she paused.
CONTINUED next week.)