Mr. Hodges hastened to obey. With the kitchen in semi-darkness, the medium motioned for his audience to move a few paces away. Taking his own position behind the kitchen table, he intoned:
“Oh, Spirit, if you are with us in the room, signal by lifting this piece of furniture.”
Slowly the man moved his hands above the table. At first nothing happened, then to the astonishment of his audience, it lifted a few inches from the floor. There it hung suspended a moment before dropping into place again.
“You see?” With a triumphant ring to his voice, the medium crossed the room to raise the window shades. “Now do you doubt me?”
“No! No!” cried Mrs. Hodges tremulously. “Only a Spirit could have moved that table. Maud, perhaps itwasyour Cousin David.”
The medium gazed at Mrs. Weems with sympathetic interest.
“You have lost a loved one recently?” he inquired.
“Cousin David and I never were well acquainted,” replied the housekeeper. “That was why I was so surprised when he left me an inheritance.”
“Mrs. Weems!” remonstrated Penny. She was dismayed by the revelation so casually offered.
“No doubt you would like to communicate with your departed cousin at some later time,” the medium said smoothly. “Allow me to offer my services as an intermediary. No charge, of course.”
“Why, that’s very generous of you, Mr. Gepper.”
“Not at all. Friends of the Hodges are my friends. Shall we set a definite date—say tomorrow at two o’clock?”
“Yes, I’ll come. That is, if the Hodges are to be present.”
“Assuredly. Mrs. Hodges is definitely psychic and should contribute to our séance.”
It was with the greatest of difficulty that Penny finally induced the housekeeper to leave the cottage. Al Gepper accompanied them to the door.
“Tomorrow at two,” he repeated, smiling slyly at Penny. “And you may come also, my little doubter. I assure you it will be well worth your time.”
“Penny, tell me the truth,” Mrs. Weems urged as they drove home together. “Didn’t you push the ouija board?”
“Of course,” laughed Penny. “But if I hadn’t, Al Gepper would have. He was trying hard enough!”
“He said you were resisting the spirits.”
“That was the worst sort of nonsense,” Penny returned impatiently. “Gepper is a fraud, and I wish you hadn’t told him about your inheritance.”
“How can you accuse him of being a fraud after you saw his marvelous demonstration? The table actually rose from the floor.”
“I know it did,” Penny acknowledged unwillingly. “But it must have been trickery.”
“How could it have been? The table was an ordinary one. Mrs. Hodges uses it every day of her life.”
“I don’t know how he did it,” Penny responded. “All the same, I am sure he’s a trickster. Promise me you won’t tell him anything more about yourself or the inheritance.”
“Very well, I’ll promise if it gives you satisfaction,” the housekeeper replied. “However, I do intend to keep my appointment.”
Penny had no opportunity to relate to her father what had occurred at the Hodges home, for Mr. Parker was absent on a two-day business trip to a distant town. Feeling that she must tell someone, she sought Louise Sidell, and they discussed every angle of the affair.
“Will you attend the séance with Mrs. Weems?” Louise asked her curiously.
“Will I?” Penny repeated. “I’ll be right there with bells! I intend to expose Mr. Al Gepper if it’s the last act of my life!”
Returning home later in the afternoon, she found Mrs. Weems sitting on the living room floor, sorting a drawer of old photographs.
“You’re not packing your things already?” Penny asked in alarm.
“Only these photographs,” the housekeeper responded. “I wouldn’t have started the task, only I got into it when the agent came.”
“Agent?”
“A man from the Clamont Photograph Studio.”
“Never heard of the place.”
“It’s opening this week. They’re having a special offer—three old photographs enlarged for only twenty-five cents. I gave the man Cousin David’s picture and two others.”
“That is a bargain,” remarked Penny. “I wish I had been here.”
The evening meal was served, and afterwards Mrs. Weems devoted herself to the reading of travel books borrowed from the library. Penny could find no occupation to satisfy her. She turned the radio on, switched it off again, and wandered restlessly from room to room. Finally she went to the telephone and called Louise.
“How about a little adventure?” she proposed. “And don’t ask for explanations.”
“Will we be home by ten o’clock? That’s the parental deadline.”
“Oh, yes, we’ll make it easily. Meet me at the corner of Carabel and Clinton Streets.”
Mrs. Weems was so engrossed in her book that she merely nodded as Penny explained that she and Louise were going for a walk. Reaching the appointed corner the girl found her chum awaiting her.
“Tell me about this so-called adventure,” she commanded. “Where are we going?”
“To the Celestial Temple, Lou. At least, we’ll look at it from the outside. Meetings are held there nearly every night at eight o’clock.”
“Penny, I don’t think I care to go.”
“Nonsense! The meetings are open to the public, aren’t they? We’ll have a very interesting time.”
“Oh, all right,” Louise consented reluctantly. “But I can’t understand why you’re so interested in the place.”
The girls took a bus to the end of the line, then walked three blocks until they came to Butternut Lane. For long stretches there were only scattered houses and the street lamps were far between. Becoming increasingly uneasy, Louise urged her chum to turn back.
“Why, we’re at our destination now,” Penny protested. “I am sure that must be the building.”
She pointed to an old, rectangular brick structure only a few yards ahead. Obviously it once had been a church for there was a high bell tower, and behind the building a cluster of neglected tombstones gleamed in the moonlight.
The evenly spaced windows were illuminated, and music could be heard.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Louise inquired dubiously. “It looks like a church to me, and they’re holding a service.”
“Oh, the building hasn’t been used for such purposes in over fifteen years,” Penny explained. “I investigated, so I know its history. Until three years ago it was used as a county fire station. Only recently it was reclaimed by this Omar Society of Celestial Thought.”
The girls moved closer. Through an open window they were able to see fifteen or twenty people seated in the pews. A woman played a wheezing organ while a man led the off-key singing.
“Let’s go inside,” Penny proposed.
Louise held back. “Oh, no, we can see everything from here. It looks as if it were a very stupid sort of meeting.”
“Appearances are often deceiving. I want a ringside seat.”
Penny pulled her chum toward the entrance door. There they hesitated, reading a large placard which bore the invitation:
The Public Is Invited. Services at eight p.m. daily.
“We’re part of the public, Lou,” urged Penny. “Come along.”
She boldly opened the door, and there was no retreat.
Heads turned slightly as the girls entered the rear of the Temple. As quickly they turned forward again, but not before Penny had gained an impression, of sharp, appraising faces.
A man arose, bowed, and offered the girls his bench, although many others were available. They slipped into the pew, accepting a song book which was placed in Louise’s hand.
While her chum sang in a thin, squeaky voice, Penny allowed her gaze to wander over the room. At the far end she saw a door which apparently opened into the bell tower. On a slightly raised platform where the leader stood, were two black-draped cabinets somewhat similar to the one she had seen at Mrs. Hodges’ cottage. Otherwise, there was nothing of unusual interest.
The services were decorous to the point of being boring. Yet as the meeting went on, Penny and Louise both felt that they were being studied. More than once they surprised persons gazing at them.
At the conclusion of the session which lasted no longer than thirty minutes, the leader asked the audience if any “brother” were present who wished to attempt a spirit communication. Immediately, Penny sat up a bit straighter, anticipating that interesting demonstrations were in store.
Nor was she mistaken. A thin, hard-faced man went to the rostrum, and in a loud voice began to call upon the spirits to make known their presence. Signs were at once forthcoming. The empty pews began to dance as if alive. The speaker’s table lifted a foot from the floor and a pitcher of water fell from it, smashing into a dozen pieces.
Louise, her eyes dilated with fear, edged closer to Penny.
“Let’s go,” she pleaded.
Penny shook her head.
A woman dressed in blue silk glided down the aisle, stopping beside the girls. She held a tray upon which were a number of objects, an opal ring, a knife, and several pins.
“Dearie,” she said to Penny, “if you would care to have a message from a departed soul, place a trinket in this collection. Any personal object. Our leader will then exhort the spirit to appear.”
“No, thank you,” replied Louise, without giving her chum a chance to speak.
“Perhaps, you would prefer a private reading,” the woman murmured. “I give them at my home, and the fee is trivial. Only a dollar.”
“Thank you, no,” Louise repeated firmly. “I’m not interested.”
The woman shrugged and moved on down the aisle, pausing beside an elderly man to whom she addressed herself.
“Lou, why did you discourage her?” Penny whispered. “We might have learned something.”
“I’ve learned quite enough. I’m leaving.”
Louise squeezed past her chum, heading for the exit. Penny had no choice but to follow.
Before they could reach the door, it suddenly opened from the outside. A young man who had not bothered to remove his hat, entered. Seeing the girls, he abruptly halted, then turned and retreated.
Penny quickened her step. Taking Louise’s hand she pulled her along at a faster pace. They reached the vestibule. It was deserted. Penny peered up and down the dark street.
“Well, he’s gone,” she remarked.
“Who?” Louise questioned in a puzzled voice. “You mean that man who entered the Temple and then left so suddenly?”
“I do,” responded Penny. “Unless my eyes tricked me, he was none other than Al Gepper!”
“I don’t know anyone answering to that name,” remarked Louise. “However, the fellow did act as if he were retreating from us.”
Penny glanced up and down the dark street. No one was to be seen, and since so little time had elapsed, she reasoned that the man had taken refuge either in the high weeds or the nearby cemetery.
“It must have been Gepper,” she declared. “Naturally he wouldn’t care to meet me here.” Quickly Penny recounted the events of the afternoon.
“Then you think he may be connected with the Temple, Penny?”
“That would be my guess. Lou, this place is nothing but a blind. The members of the society pretend to be honest spiritualists, while in reality they’re charlatans. They hold services for one purpose only—to solicit persons for private readings.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Of course it is. The police should raid the place.”
“Then why don’t they, Penny?”
“Dad says it’s because they’ve been unable to obtain sufficient evidence. But they’ll have it after we report what we’ve seen tonight!”
“How do you suppose they made things jump around as if they were alive?” Louise remarked as the girls walked slowly toward home. “It frightened me.”
“Everything was done by trickery. I’m sure of that, Lou. Just as soon as Dad returns I shall make a full report to him. We’ll see what he can do about it.”
By the time Penny arrived home, Mrs. Weems had retired to her room. However, the light still burned and the door was open a crack. Rapping, the girl entered, for she was eager to tell the housekeeper about her visit to the Celestial Temple.
Mrs. Weems sat at the desk. Hastily she closed one of the drawers, and turned the key.
“You startled me, Penny!” she exclaimed. “I do wish you would give more warning before you descend upon one.”
“Sorry,” apologized Penny, glancing curiously toward the desk. “Oh, I see!”
“You see what?” demanded the housekeeper.
“Six thousand dollars reposing in a desk drawer!”
Mrs. Weems’ look of consternation betrayed her. She glanced at the locked drawer, and then laughed.
“For an instant I thought you actually could see the money, Penny.”
“Then my guess was right?”
“I keep the money in the drawer,” Mrs. Weems admitted.
Penny sat down on the edge of the bed, drawing up her knees for a chin rest.
“Mrs. Weems, don’t you think it’s risky keeping so much money here?”
“It will only be for a few days, Penny. I’ll have it converted into traveler’s cheques as soon as I am ready to start west.”
“The desk doesn’t seem a safe place to me.”
“You’re the only person who knows where I keep the money, Penny. Oh, yes, I told Mrs. Hodges, but she is to be trusted. No one can steal it as long as I have the key.”
Mrs. Weems tapped a black velvet ribbon which she wore about her neck.
“I keep this on me day and night,” she declared. “No thief ever will get it way from me.”
Penny said nothing more about the matter. Instead, she launched into a highly colored account of her visit to the Celestial Temple. The housekeeper expressed disapproval, remarking that she never would have granted permission had she known in advance where the girls were going. Nevertheless, her eager questions made it evident that she was deeply interested in the demonstration which had been witnessed.
“I don’t see how you can call it trickery,” she protested. “You have no proof, Penny.”
“Never in the world will I believe that spirits can make tables do a dance, Mrs. Weems! Probably the furniture had special wiring or something of the sort.”
“You can’t say that about the table at Mrs. Hodges’, Penny.”
“No, it seemed to be just an ordinary piece of furniture,” the girl admitted reluctantly. “All the same, Al Gepper is a fraud, and I wish you wouldn’t attend his old séance tomorrow.”
“But Penny, I gave my promise.”
“I can run over to the house and tell him you’ve changed your mind.”
Mrs. Weems shook her head. “No, Penny, I am curious to learn if he will be able to communicate with the spirits. Tomorrow’s séance should provide a genuine test. The man knows nothing about me or my ancestors.”
“Mrs. Hodges probably has provided all the information he’ll require.”
“I telephoned her yesterday and requested her not to tell Mr. Gepper anything about me. She’ll respect my wishes. The test should prove a true one.”
Penny sighed and arose from the bed. Knowing Mrs. Weems as she did, she realized that her opinion could not be changed by argument. It was her hope that Al Gepper would discredit himself by failing in the séance.
“Penny, please promise that you’ll do nothing outrageous tomorrow,” Mrs. Weems begged as the girl started to leave. “I am sure Mr. Gepper feels that you are antagonistic.”
“I’ll try to behave myself,” Penny laughed. “Yes, we’ll give Mr. Gepper a chance to prove what he can do.”
At two the following afternoon she and Mrs. Weems presented themselves at the Hodges’ cottage. Both Mr. Hodges and his wife, who were to sit in at the séance, were trembling with anticipation.
“Mr. Gepper is simply wonderful,” the seamstress confided to Mrs. Weems. “He tells me that I have great healing powers as well as a psychic personality.”
“Jenny, I hope you haven’t told him anything about me,” the housekeeper mentioned.
“Oh, no, Maud. For that matter, he’s said nothing about you since you were here.”
Mrs. Weems cast Penny an “I-told-you-so” glance which was not lost upon Al Gepper who entered the room at that moment.
“I am ready for you, ladies,” he said. “Kindly follow me.”
In the upstairs room blinds had been drawn. Al Gepper indicated that his audience was to occupy the chairs around the circular table.
“Before we attempt to communicate with the departed souls, I wish to assure you that I employ no trickery,” he announced, looking hard at Penny. “You may examine the table or the cabinet if you wish.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Gepper,” murmured Mrs. Hodges. “We trust you.”
“I’ll look, if you don’t mind,” said Penny.
She peered beneath the table, thumped it several times, and pulled aside the curtain of the cabinet. It was empty.
“Now if you are quite satisfied, shall we begin?” purred Mr. Gepper. “It will make it much easier, if each one of you will give me a personal object.”
“A la the Celestial Temple method,” muttered Penny beneath her breath.
“What was that?” questioned the medium sharply.
“Nothing. I was merely thinking to myself.”
“Then please think more quietly. I must warn you that this séance cannot be successful unless each person present concentrates, entering into the occasion with the deepest of sincerity.”
“I assure you, I am as sincere as yourself,” Penny responded gravely.
Mr. Hodges deposited his gold watch on the table. His wife offered a pin and Mrs. Weems a plain band ring. Penny parted with a handkerchief.
After everyone was seated about the table, Al Gepper played several phonograph records, all the while exhorting the Spirits to appear.
Taking Mrs. Weems’ ring from the tray before him, he pressed it to his forehead. A convulsive shudder wracked his body.
“Someone comes to me—” he mumbled. “Someone comes, giving the name of David—David Swester.”
“My cousin,” breathed Mrs. Weems in awe.
“He is tall and dark with a scar over his left eye,” resumed the medium. “I see him plainly now.”
“ThatisDavid!” cried the housekeeper, leaning forward in her eagerness.
“David, have you a message for us?” the medium intoned.
There was a long silence, during which the man could be seen writhing and twisting in the semi-darkness. Then his voice began again:
“David has a message for a person called Maud.”
“I am Maud,” said Mrs. Weems tremulously. “Oh, what does he say?”
“That he is well and happy in the Spirit World, but he is worried about Maud.”
“Worried about me? Why?”
The medium again seemed to undergo physical suffering, but presently the message “came through,” although not in an entirely clear form.
“David’s voice has faded. I am not certain, but it has something to do with six thousand dollars.”
“The exact amount he left to me!” Mrs. Weems murmured.
“David is afraid that you will not have the wisdom to invest the money wisely. He warns you that the present place where you have it deposited is not safe. He will tell you what to do with it. Now the voice is fading again. David has gone.”
With another convulsive shudder, Al Gepper straightened from the position into which he had slumped. Resuming his normal tone he said:
“That is all. The connection with Cousin David has been broken.”
“Can’t we contact him again?” Mrs. Weems asked in disappointment.
“Not today. Possibly tomorrow at this same hour.”
“Couldn’t you call up another Spirit by using my pin or Pa’s watch?” Mrs. Hodges suggested wistfully.
Al Gepper raised one of the window blinds. “I am very, very tired,” he said. “This séance was particularly exhausting due to the presence of someone antagonistic. Tomorrow if conditions are right, I hope actually to materialize Cousin David. The poor soul is trying so hard to get a message through to the one he calls Maud.”
“You mean I’ll be able to see him?” the housekeeper asked incredulously.
“I hope and believe so. I must rest now. After a séance I should refresh myself with sleep.”
“Of course,” agreed Mrs. Hodges. “We are selfish to overtax you.”
Recovering their trinkets, the elderly couple and Mrs. Weems went from the room. Penny was the last to leave.
“Well, sister?” inquired the medium in a low voice. “Were you convinced, or do you still think that you can show up Al Gepper?”
“I think,” said Penny softly, “that you are a very clever man. But clever as you are, one of your well-trained ghosts may yet lead you to the city jail!”
When Penny reached the lower floor she found Mrs. Weems and the Hodges excitedly discussing the séance. The seamstress and her husband emphatically declared that they had given the medium no information regarding either the housekeeper or the deceased Cousin David.
“Then there can be only one explanation,” Mrs. Weems said. “We were truly in communication with a departed spirit.”
“Don’t you agree, Penny?” inquired Mrs. Hodges.
“I am afraid I can’t,” she replied.
“The test was a fair one,” Mrs. Weems insisted. “Mr. Gepper couldn’t have described Cousin David so accurately if he hadn’t actually seen him as he materialized from the spirit world.”
“Al Gepper could have obtained much of his information from persons in Riverview,” Penny responded.
“About me, perhaps,” the housekeeper conceded. “But not about Cousin David. Why, I doubt if anyone save myself knew he had a scar over his eye. He received it in an automobile accident twelve or thirteen years ago.”
“Just think!” murmured Mrs. Hodges. “Tomorrow you may actually be able to see your departed cousin!”
In vain Penny argued that Al Gepper was a trickster. She was unable to offer the slightest evidence to support her contention while, on the other hand, the Hodges reminded her that the medium had never asked one penny for his services.
From the cottage Penny went directly to theStaroffice, feeling certain that her father would have returned there from his trip. Nor was she mistaken. Gaining admittance to the private office, she wasted no words in relating everything which had transpired during his absence. Her father’s attention was flattering.
“Penny, you actually saw all this?” he questioned when she had finished.
“Oh, yes! At the Celestial Temple Louise was with me, too. We thought you might take up the matter with the police.”
“That’s exactly what I will do,” decided Mr. Parker. “I’ve turned the matter over in my mind for several days. TheStarwill take the initiative in driving these mediums, character readers and the like out of Riverview!”
“Oh, Dad, I was hoping you’d say that!”
Mr. Parker pressed a desk buzzer. Summoning DeWitt, he told of his plan to launch an active campaign.
“Nothing will please me better, Chief,” responded the city editor. “Where do we start?”
“We’ll tip the police to what is going on at the Celestial Temple. Have them send detectives there for tonight’s meeting. Then when the usual hocus-pocus starts, arrests can be made. Have photographers and a good reporter on hand.”
“That should start the ball rolling,” agreed DeWitt. “I’ll assign Jerry Livingston to the story. Salt Sommers is my best photographer.”
“Get busy right away,” Mr. Parker ordered. “We’ll play the story big tomorrow—give it a spread.”
“How about Al Gepper?” Penny inquired after DeWitt had gone. “Could he be arrested without involving the Hodges?”
“Not very easily if he lives at their place. Has he accepted money for the séances he conducts there?”
“He hasn’t taken any yet from Mrs. Weems. I am sure he must have other customers.”
“You have no proof of it?”
“No.”
“Suppose we forget Al Gepper for the time being, and concentrate on the Celestial Temple,” Mr. Parker proposed. “In the meantime, learn everything you can about the man’s methods.”
“No assignment would please me more, Dad. I’ve the same as promised Mr. Gepper he’ll land in jail, and I want to make good.”
Mr. Parker began to pace the floor. “I’ll write a scorching editorial,” he said. “We’ll fight ignorance with information. Our reporters must learn how these mediums do their tricks, and expose them to the gullible public.”
“I’ll do everything I can to help,” Penny promised eagerly. “May I have Al Gepper for my particular fish bait?”
“He’s your assignment. And I’m depending upon you to see that he doesn’t work any of his trickery on Mrs. Weems. If she can’t be persuaded to remain away from the Hodges’, then we must protect her as best we can.”
“I’ll try to accompany her every time she goes there, Dad. I am afraid he may be after her money.”
“Gepper doesn’t know she inherited six thousand dollars?” Mr. Parker asked in alarm.
“Yes, she dropped the information that she had come into money. He supplied figures himself.”
“I wonder how?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea, Dad. Gepper is as clever a man as ever I met. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he does produce Cousin David at tomorrow’s séance.”
Mr. Parker snorted in disgust.
“Tommyrot! The man will make an excuse about the conditions not being right, and fail.”
“Perhaps, but he seems pretty confident.”
“You expect to attend the séance?”
“Oh, definitely. Jungle beasts couldn’t keep me away.”
“Then be alert every instant—without appearing too suspicious, of course. Try to learn how the man accomplishes his tricks.”
“Leave it to me,” chuckled Penny. “Mr. Al Gepper is due for his first shock when he wakes up tomorrow and reads that the Celestial Temple has been raided. Unless I am much mistaken, that place is one of his favorite haunts.”
Leaving the newspaper office, Penny went directly home. She longed to stop at the Sidell home, but she had promised her father to say nothing about the planned raid until it was an accomplished fact. Feeling the need of work to occupy her time, she washed the maroon car and waxed the fading paint of Leaping Lena.
At six o’clock her father came home for dinner.
“Any news?” Penny asked, running to meet him.
“Everything’s set,” he answered. “DeWitt laid your information before the police. Tonight three detectives will attend the meeting at the Temple. If anything out of the way happens, the raid will be staged.”
Penny was so tense with expectation that she was unable to do justice to the delicious dinner which Mrs. Weems had prepared. Her father, too, seemed unusually restless. After dinner he made a pretense of reading the paper, but actually his eyes did not see the print.
The hands of the clock scarcely appeared to move, so slowly did time pass. Eight o’clock came, then nine. Suddenly the telephone rang.
Penny was away in an instant to answer it. From the next room she called to her father:
“It’s for you, Dad! DeWitt, I think.”
“I told him to telephone me as soon as the raid was staged.” Mr. Parker arose and went quickly to take the receiver. Penny hovered at his elbow.
“Hello! DeWitt?” the publisher asked, and after a slight pause: “Oh, I see. No, I don’t think Penny was mistaken. It’s more likely there was a tip-off.”
He hung up the receiver and turned toward Penny who anticipated the news.
“The raid was a failure?”
“Yes, Penny. Detectives spent two hours at the meeting. Nothing happened. It was impossible to make arrests.”
“They must have been recognized as detectives.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Others will be assigned to the case?”
“I doubt it, Penny. DeWitt reports that the police have become convinced that the spiritualists who use the Temple are not operating for profit.”
“Louise and I know better because she was approached.” Penny anxiously regarded her father. “Dad, even if the police do give up, we won’t, will we?”
“No, we’re in this fight and we’ll stay in it,” he answered grimly. “We’ll put some new teeth in our trap. And the next time it’s sprung, I warrant you we’ll catch a crook.”
Promptly at two o’clock the following afternoon, Penny and Mrs. Weems presented themselves at the Hodges’ cottage for the appointed séance. Already Mr. Gepper awaited them in the darkened apartment on the second floor.
Penny’s glance about the room found everything in the same order as upon the previous visit, save that an easel with a large black sheet of artist’s paper stood beside the cabinet.
She moved as if to examine it. Al Gepper intercepted her by saying:
“Sit here, if you please. Beside Mrs. Weems. I’ll call the Hodges and we’ll start at once.”
The medium went to the door and shouted down the stairway. Penny noticed that he remained where he could watch her every move in a mirror which hung on the wall. She shrewdly guessed that he was afraid she might attempt to examine either the cabinet or the easel.
Mr. and Mrs. Hodges came in response to the call, taking chairs about the circular table. The gaze which they fastened upon Al Gepper was almost worshipful.
“Now today I hope to materialize the Spirit of Cousin David,” announced the medium. “The task will be difficult, as you must realize. After the séance begins I am compelled to request absolute quiet. The slightest movement may frighten away the Spirits.”
“Why are spirits so timid?” asked Penny.
“Because their beings are so sensitive that they instantly feel an unfriendly presence,” the man responded glibly. “Please hold hands, and use every precaution that contact is not broken.”
Mrs. Weems took one of Penny’s hands and Mr. Hodges the other. Mrs. Hodges sat next to her husband.
After lowering black curtains over the window blinds to further darken the room, the medium returned to his chair. Those at the table were unable to distinguish his form, and for a time there was no sound save the scratching music of a phonograph record.
Presently the medium exhorted the Spirit of Cousin David to appear. For at least ten minutes there was no indication that communication was to be established. Then a cowbell tinkled, causing Mrs. Weems to shake and tremble.
“Are you there, David?” called the medium.
The bell jingled violently.
“We are ready, David,” intoned the medium. “Have you a message for us?”
To Penny’s amazement, a pair of shapely white hands slowly materialized, apparently pulling aside the curtain of the cabinet above the medium’s head. In the darkness they glowed with a weird phosphorescent light.
Next appeared a white-rimmed slate, upon which luminous words were written: “I am the Spirit of Cousin David. Is Maud here?”
“Yes, yes,” responded Mrs. Weems, quivering with excitement. “Have you a message for me?”
Again the hand wrote: “My happiness in this world beyond is disturbed. Maud, do not squander the money which I gave to you.”
“Squander it?” the housekeeper said aloud. “Why, I’ve scarcely spent a penny!”
“A trip to California is ill-advised,” wrote the hand. “Invest your money in good eight per cent securities. There are many excellent companies—the Brantwell Corporation, White and Edwards, the Bierkamp Company.”
The slate vanished and once more the jingling of the cowbell denoted that the spirit was moving away.
The medium spoke. “Contact has been broken. Shall we try to reach Cousin David again?”
“Oh, please!” pleaded Mrs. Weems. “I don’t know what to do now. I’ve planned on the western trip and I can’t understand why Cousin David should advise me to give it up.”
“I wouldn’t go agin’ the Spirits if I was you,” advised Mr. Hodges. “You better change your plans, Maud.”
“But how can I be certain that the message came from Cousin David?” the housekeeper quavered. “Oh, dear, I am so upset! If only I could be certain.”
“Madam, I hope you do not distrust me,” said Al Gepper reprovingly.
“Oh, no, it’s not that. I’m just upset.”
“Perhaps, if you actually saw your cousin it would set your mind at rest.”
“Is it possible to see him?”
“I cannot promise, but we will try. Hold hands again please, and everyone concentrate.”
There followed an interval during which the medium pleaded with the Spirit of Cousin David to return and show himself. Suddenly the group was startled to see a luminous banjo move high through the air, unsupported by any hand. It began to play “Down upon the Swanee River.”
Midway through the selection, the music broke off and the banjo disappeared. An instant later Mrs. Hodges uttered a choked cry.
“The easel! Look at it, Maud!”
All eyes turned toward the painter’s canvas. As the medium focused a flashlight upon it, the face of an elderly man slowly materialized on the blank surface, the picture appearing in red, blue and finally black oil paint.
“ItisCousin David!” whispered Mrs. Weems, gripping Penny’s hand so tightly that it hurt. “He looks exactly as he did when last I saw him!”
The medium extinguished his light and again the room was dark. Mrs. Weems’ chair creaked as she stirred restlessly. Mr. Hodges’ heavy breathing could be plainly heard. There was no other sound. Everyone waited in tense expectancy, sensing that the climax of the séance was at hand.
Suddenly, behind Al Gepper’s chair a spot of ethereal light appeared. As Penny watched, it grew in size until the figure had assumed the proportions of a man. Then, to her further amazement, it slowly rose toward the ceiling, hovering above Mrs. Weems’ chair.
Throughout the séance Penny had remained firm in her conviction that the medium had resorted to trickery to produce his startling effects. Although she could not be sure, she thought that several times he had slipped from his chair to enter the conveniently placed cabinet. She also believed that the only way he could have materialized the ghost was by donning luminous robes.
“I’ll end his little game once and for all,” she thought.
Deliberately she waited until the ghostly figure floated close to her own chair. Then with a sudden upward spring, she snatched at it.
Greatly to her chagrin, her hand encountered nothing solid. With the speed of lightning, the figure streaked toward the cabinet behind Al Gepper’s chair and was seen no more.
Arising, the medium switched on the room lights. His face was white with anger.
“I warned you to make no move,” he said harshly to Penny. “You deliberately disobeyed me.”
“Oh, Penny, why did you do it?” wailed Mrs. Weems. “I was so eager to get another message from Cousin David.”
“His Spirit has been frightened away,” announced the medium. “It will be impossible ever to recall him. For that matter, I shall never again conduct a séance with this young person present. She is a disturbing element.”
“Oh, Penny, you’ve ruined everything,” said Mrs. Weems accusingly. “Why do you act so outrageously?”
Penny started to speak and then changed her mind. Mrs. Weems, the seamstress and her husband, all were gazing at her with deep reproach. She realized that there was nothing she could say which would make them understand.
She arose and walked to the easel. The painting of Cousin David remained clearly visible. She touched it and then glanced at her finger which bore a streak of red.
The paint was still wet.
Penny stared at her finger a moment. Lifting her eyes she met the triumphant gaze of Al Gepper.
“Not even a skillful artist could have painted a picture so quickly,” he said with a smirk. “Only a spirit would have the ability. You are dumbfounded, my little one?”
“No, just plain dumb,” answered Penny. “I salute you, Mr. Gepper.”
Without waiting for Mrs. Weems, she turned and went from the house.
“Now howdidhe do it?” she muttered. “I saw everything and yet I am more in the dark than ever. But I am sure of one thing. Unless I work fast, Al Gepper is almost certain to obtain Mrs. Weems’ inheritance.”