Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-05
CHAPTER " CONTINUED !

TOR Una the affair had lost its first cle-
i ment of comedy. The meaningless words.
he monotonous seriousness with which they
were uttered seemed. in the beginning,
delicious BIT of fooling improvised for her
benefit. She dciixnted in the original. the
unexpected and nothing, certainly. could be
more foreign to the customary betrothal
night entertainn, II, than this ponderous pair
ing of words between her lover and her
uncle.
The real purpose of the experiment had
not impressed her The talk about ghosts
gave an amusing background to it Tut
this was afterward spoiled. il is true. by
the tedious discussion of psychological prob
lens OF course. Una assured herself. this
experiment--ot tns game--was a psy-
Geological problem, and she felt certain
David would solve II. whatever ii might be-,
in the cleverest fashion
Had Una understood from the first jus,
what Leighton intended by his proposed
ghost hunt she would have followed more
keenly the details Of this novel paSime.
AS it was, these details appeared to have
no ntelligible object in view and failed to
arouse her interest until some little time
had elapsed. Then she began specializing
on the meaning Of her uncles disconnected
words and wondering why they drew from
David just the replies they did More to
amuse herself than anything else. she com
pared the images which these words evidently
aroused in David's mind with the images
suggested to her
For "shp' he gave Sky: she thought OF
water" Mountain" produced tired" .
she would have said "view" Her word for
"river' was rowing" his Sunshine" He
said mystery" for "AfrCa"; she. "negroes."
His words were never the same as hers
a fact indicating the wide differences in their
individual experiences More singular still.
David's words We're always remote. in mean
ing or associate from the question words
to which they We're the answer: hers were
quite the opposite Why she asked her
dia"; misery to- temple: joy to
ocean; lost" to guide; slave" to
friend?
As the experiment progressed most of
her uncle's words we're hound together. Ina
noticed by a similarity in character She
even fancied she could detect in them tn"
disiointed bones of story, Most OF these
words had TO do with foreign trav" and as
| David was known to have visited many
countries it was natural thar the test
should follow this line. especially as h's
was a quest for the Ghost of tn" Forgotten
| In this connection u was 10ticHah" that tn"
series of words chosen by leighton re-
versed the itinerary which Una was Ger
tain David had followed Thus. the hrst
| question words indicated the English Lake
| region where David had ended his travels.
| Then came various Europea" countries. and
| after these Morocco, Egypt Arabia. 'ndia.
| China, the islands Of the Par'hr ana
| the western coast Of America S'Ipposing
| that Leighton had David's actual Itinerary
| in mind. he was going over 1t by series
| of backward steps, and had now reacheh
| a point at which. as Una rememhNred. me
| long Journey hogan. With each backward
| stem also she noted that tine agitation nj
| the electric finger In the psychometer in
| creased. r'avid could NOT see what was nan
| pening in the machine behind him, although
| IL was his own emotions that we're heins
| recordsd there WHY he aCitateE
| WHY did he try to hide his feelings? Why
| did these simple words from Leighton have
such power over him? As Ina asked herself
| these questions her sympathy for him In
| creased and she awaited the end of the
| experiment with anxiety
| Jeishton paused after David matched his
question word. California with ''home,"
The electric finger threw tremulous line
| of light upon the recording mirror. ana IN
both men the Indifference shown when they
began this strange game was lacking. The
axnectancy in David's face changed to defi-
anca ss 'Califorpia" was followed by the
nuestion-word ship" The electric finger
gave a swift upward flash and there was q
longer pause than usual before the answer
oamoe-astorm" Pacific was met hy palm
trses." and these were followed by land.
s.Indiaps'': hotel" strangers: natives.
lost: clue" wealth"
| with tbe last pair of words the agitation
recorded in the psychometer reached its high
est pojnt David's face was pale, his features
| drawn his grasp on the electrodes intense
| ina could not hear to witness bis struggle
| Although ignorant of the cause. his suffer'nf
| was all too evident, and she determined u
rssc,e him at once from her uncls's cruelty
leighton met her appeal with ehsracteristi'
oooIness. Ignoring her demand to hiring th'
axperiment to an end But he changed tn
seauepce of words ha had been using.
i Homer was the next qpastion-psord given
The effect was Immediate. David ,ooked a
n tbs old man with astonishmenf The Jerk
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