My Library

had disappeared as they had come. “ ‘I will now show you that you cannot always trust your own senses,’ said Vatterale, ‘nor account for what you see;’ and he straightway emptied the basket, and broke the bottles. All three were empty! Not a sign of snake or scorpion was there! “ ‘Again, I will show you a curious thing. You will please call a servant, seat her on one of those chairs, and bid her on a wager hold a skein of silk while it is being wound—merely to keep her attention—that is all. But,’ and he spoke very earnestly, ‘whatever you see or hear, I beg you will not utter a single word.’ “This was assented to; a skein of silk was ordered, but not till the gaslight had displaced the other. “ ‘It will be just seventeen minutes before the girl is ready,’ said Mai; ‘and while waiting, I will demonstrate a fallacy. The creatures you have beheld to night are real, but ephemeral—they are Will-creations, and perish when the power ceases to act which called them into being. As proof of what I say, Behold!’ “From the floor in the eastern corner of the room there straightway begun to arise a light mist, which increased in bulk until a ball of vapor, three feet in diameter, floated in the air. Thus it remained for a minute; and then, right