The mirror., 1923-09-20
THE PHANTOM PHOTOGRAPH
CONTINUED from page u

'What;-oh Pete; how dld,-where
did you get it. What is it,"
Peters turmoil of thought and his aston
ishment had had some time to abate. He
was calmer now. He new that if he and
Phillip were to attempt an explanation OF
this mystery, they had need for rational
and coherent thou sht.
"Cool down, cool down." he advised, as
Phillips food of questions began to pour
forth. "Just listen to me, and I'll tell you
all know of the thing"
Peter then gave his friend recital of
the events which led to the origin of the
phantom photograph, beginning with his
nap in the chair and his dream; the en-
trance of the young lady and her order
for copies and the result; then his phone
call for Phillip.
"Now you know as much as l do," he
added. "What do you make of it?"
But Phillip only shook his head, puzzled.
Finally he ventured, "Do you believe in
any of this occult stuff, Pete,-you know,
thought transference,-spirit photography,
and such?"
"No, no, Phil, of course not"
"Well," continued Phillip, "Your dream,
and then your thinking of monsters, as
you yourself say, while you copied the tin
type and developed the plate,-might not
this-?"
"Don't talk drivel," from Peter impat-
iently, "We both know better than that.
There's nothing occult or spiritual about
this beast. It's a phantom alright, but
the solution to the mystery doesn't lie in
occultism, I'll swear"
Both considered, silently. Then sud-
denly from Peter.
ooh golly! The other one,-the other
plate! Jove, Phil, forgot about it!
Didn't develop it yet! Come on, quick!"
Pushing Phillip he hurried him into the
dark room, closed the door, and lit the
ruby lamp. Together the photographer
and his helper developed the second plate.
Together they watched in the dim glow
from the ruby light the plate slowly devel-
op. Very gradually, almost imperceptibly,
spots and shadows appeared, and the i'm
age formed. Would it develop into a
copy of the tintype or into the image of
an unearthly phantasm? Now an outline
became visible! Slowly it evolved into a
form-a monstrous, awful form! Again
the monster,-again the terrible phantom! !!
Yet slightly different this time. The
same creature, though in different atti-
tude. The monster had changed its pos
ition for the second exposure. The first
view had been of the creatures side. This
showed front view of the same fear
some form.
Was there no explanation of this? Was
there not some clue; some key to the mys-
terry? Peter bethought himself. All his
knowledge of photography could supply
no solution to this riddle. He recalled
that he had opened fresh box of plates
in order to secure the two needed for the
copying. Even granting that the plates
had been defective,-defects do not mir
aculously transform themselves into abhor-
rent creatures. To convince himself and
Phillip, however, he developed two of the
unused plates from the box without first
exposing them. They developed as blanks,
nothing more. The plates were not de-
fective, even. He and Phillip carefully
and minutely examined the tintype, the
indirect cause of their perplexity. 1t was
blameless enough. A tintype,-nothing
else. Then Peter again loaded the plate
holder and trimmed the arc-lights. Care
fully he re-copied the tintype, exposing as
before,-four and FIVE seconds. Then his
and Phillips suspense as they developed
the exposed plates. The result? Two