Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-04

| "eie Trying TO keep cool on the piazza.
Dorothy told me you said one had been
used by woman dead more than $50
summer"
The Ice was clinking in the lemonade
pitcher as the glasses were filled. Dorothy
was tanning herself. Ames was offering
| to act as her punkah coolie. The Lady
In white gown was sitting where a
faint breath of air occasionally stirred
the leaves on the vines. Doctor McFabre
was lounging in the Gloucester hammock,
as usual. sweltering among the pillows.
Mrs. McFabre was urging him to take his
ease in a cooler place.
Where have you lived all these years,
Owen, not to know anything about the
ouija?" asked Ames, turning for a mo-
ment from Dorothy.
why, Dick" said Dorothy. "you sure
| ly know all about It. We used to have
| one at the house. Don't you remember"
You don't mean that fool contrivance
| that had a heart.shaped board with a
| pointer on one END that you made walk
about another board on which the letters
| OF the alphabet were printed?" said Owen.
Yes, that was it," said Dorothy.
Sometimes there is pencil on the
heartshaped board, and it writes sen.
tences instead of spelling out words by
pointing to the letters" said I. when
it writes 1t is sometimes called plan
chette."
What makes It mover" Owen wanted
to know.
"They tell us in st. Louis" said I,
"where the long novel was written, that
IL was moved by the spirit of the dead
women working through the hands of two
living women who had their hands on the
board"
stuff and nonsense" calculated Ames
with a snort Of contempt.
you may be right" said I, but there
are persons who have profound faith in
that sort of thing. and they use the ouija
board when they want to tell their own
fortunes"
IT have had my fortune told by it,"
said Dorothy.
what did 1t say?" asked Ames.
"Why don't you tell her fortune by
Napoleon's Oraculum?" asked The Lady.
Can you tell fortunes?" Dorothy ex-
claimed eagerly. sitting up In her chair
and forgetting the heat.
81 fhave a book of directions said 1,
but you know I don't believe in that
sort of thing"
Neither do l." Doctor McFabre
aroused himself enough to remark.
"Napoleons Oraculum," said to Doro.
thy, ignoring Doctor McFabre's interrupt
ton, Consists of cabalistic table of six.
teen columns of letters and numbers
headed by sixteen astral keys There are
sixteen questions to be asked, and six.
teen different answers to each question.
You select the question you want to ask
and chance guides you to the answer. Do
you want to try it?"
please let me-" said Dorothy
/ took the hook from the table where
it had been lying beside the lemonade
pitcher and opened to the list of ques-
tions. When I handed it to the girl she
studied the list while and then said
she wanted to know whether she would
obtain her wish. This was the first ques-
ton. gave her another book and told
her to open it at random and read to me
the first four words at the top of the
left.hand page. She read, May l tell
him." This was the guide to the astral
KEY. As tho first word had an odd mum.
ber of letters l made a single dot on
piece of paper. The second word also
had an odd number of letters, and l put
another dot under the first one put two
dots for the third word, as it had an even
number of letters and single dot for |
the last word. Then looked in column
one and followed it horizontally till l
came to a perpendicular column headed |
by a combination of two single dots, a
double dot and single dot. Where the |
two columns crossed was the letter o. l
looked at the table o, containing answers
to ali the questions and there opposite |
the same group of dots read this answer:
Fortune shuns you at present. but
will come in time"
"Oh.h!" sighed Dorothy
Cheer up" said Ames. That Is not |
half bad" Then in moment he added, |
Let me try it,"
l gave the book to him. He studied the |
questions and then, evidently with his |
mind on the draft and the probability |
that he would have to go TO france, ne |
said, 81 choose the second question, Will |
my undertakings be successful?'"
Following the same method as I EN-. |
ployed in Dorothys case I found the an
swer was:
Remain here among your family and
you will do WELL"
"That means you won't have to leave
the country" said owen little contemp-
tuously.
Rubbish" said Doctor McFabre. who
had risen from the hammock and was
now sitting on the edge.
"You don't dare try it, Owen," said
Ames, with fine show Of indignation.
LET me have the book" and Owen
reached out his hand He looked over the
questions. II am going to be frank about
1t. Question number four is Shall I live
In foreign partsT That is what I want
TO know"