Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-03-22

~ NV 80 w ~ INC lluc ItlISIOI-
then our whole theory falls to the
Ground, and Swain is guilty of MUIR
der"
] shivcre& a little, but / saw that
Godfrey was right.
w are In this dilemma Godfrey
continued, "either Silva is a fakir and
charlatan, ~ Swain is a murderer
Il wish you could have witnessed
that horrible scene as i did" | broke
in; lit would have shaken your con-
%fidence. too! | wish you could have
seen his face as he glanced back I've
frey: positively fiendish! 1t made my
blood run cold. 1T makes it run colo
now. to remember it,"
How do o explain all that crystal
sphere business. anyway?' asked Sim
monds, who had been chewing his cigar
perpleNedly. ut stumps me-"
Lester was hypnotised and saw
what Silva willed him to see." answered
Godfrey. You'll remember he sat fac
ing him
But" l objected. mo one remembers
what happens during hypnosis"
They do if they are willed to re-
member. Silva willed you to remem-
Der. 1t was cleverly done, and his ex-
PLANTATION of the origin of the vision
was clever, too. Moreover, it had some
truth in it. for the secret of crystal
gazing is that it awakens the subjec-
tive consciousness, or great spirit, as
Silva called it. But you weren't crys-
tai gazing, tonight. Lester-you were
simply hypnotised."
you may be right 1 admitted; 81
remember how his eyes stared at me.
But it was wonderful-Tm more inn
pressed with him than ever"
ut isn't the fact that he hypnotised
you that bOthers me-" said Godfrey,
after a moment. Its the fact that he
has also %hypnptised Miss Vaughan"
The words startled me.
You think that's the reason Of her
behavior" l asked, quickly.
"Wha other reason can there be-"
girl who thinks herself i'm danger and
summons to her aid the man who loves
her and whom, presumably, she loves.
And two days later, when he has been
imprisoned for a crime Of which she
declares it is absurd to suspect him,
instead of Fastening. to him or trying
to carry ont his wishes, she turns her
back on him and deliberately walks
into the danger from which, up to that
moment, h had shrunk with loath-
ing. Contrast her behavior Of Satur-
day.. when she declared her faith in
Swain and begged your assistance.
with her behavior of yesterday and to-
day, when she throws you and Swain
aside and announces that she is go
ing to follow Silva-to become a priest
ess of silva. Do you know what that
means, Lester-to become a priestess
of Siva?"
NO" | answered, slowly; 81 don't
know. Silva said it was a great des-
tiny; yes. and that it meant turning
ones back on marriage"
That is right said Godfrey, in an
indescribable tone, there is no mar
llage-there are only revolving, abom-
Unable, u~nspeakable rites and cere-
In1OnlaC 1oy N nocnCc IDrofoc.~~ -.
the orientalist, today, and had a talk
with him about it. He says the wor-
ship of silva is merely the Worship of
the reproductive principle, as it runs
through all creation. and that the de-
tails of this worship are inconceivably
disgusting. That is the sort of des-
tiny Miss Vaughan has chosen.
My hands We're clammy with the hor-
ror of it.
I'VE must save her!" 1 said, hoarse-
~. OF course she doesn't know
doesn't suspect! We must get her
away from Silvia"
Undoubtedly we must do some
thing" Godfrey agreed. II DOM know
how we can get her away from Silva,
but we might get Silva away from
her. Couldn't o arrest him on sus-
picion and keep him locked up for two
or three days, Simmonds""
II might" Simmonds grunted.
And while he's away you can work
with her, Lester; take Mrs. Royce to
SEQ her, give her a hint of what Saliva
ism really is-or get Mrs. Royce to. If
that doesn't have any effect, we can
get her away from Silva's influence for
a few days. she will be all right again."
II hope So" l agreed. but I'm not at
all certain. She didn't behave like a
hypnotised person, Godfrey; she SEEM
ed to be acting Of her own free will.
! couldn't see that Silva RAJ trying to
influence her in any way. She said
theirs wish. And it certainly was his
wish--the will proves that. II any
body is %hypnotising her. I should SAL
1t was he."
We'll, I can't arrest him." said Sim
mOnds, with a grin.
"Her fathers wishes may have had
some weight with her at the outset,''
admitted Godfrey. but they couldn't
have driven her to the length to which
she has gone. And about the will. If
Vaughan had not been killed, II he had
been found insane, the will would have
been at once invalidated. Don't you
get the glimmer Of a motive for his
murder there, Lester?"
ut can be invalidated now, If Miss
Vaughan contests it, l pointed u
Yes; but unless she does contest 1t,
1t will stand. But IL Vaughan had
been declared insane. the will could
never have been probated-no contest
would have been necessary. Do you
see the difference?,
II see what you mean: but I don't
think 1t amounts to much. Silva de-
clares that IL Miss Vaughan contests
the will, he will not defend it."
But he knows perfectly well that
she will not contest 1t. The surest way
to prevent q contest is by adopting just
such an attitude. Besides. II we don't
save her. he'll get her share. too.
VaMghan's estate and Vaughan's