Elsie sank into the remaining chair, and felt that she was trembling violently. Her nervousness was partly pleasurable excitement, and partly involuntary reaction to the atmosphere diffused by the dim, shaded room and the autocratic solemnity of Madame Clara. A sweet, rather sickly smell was discernible. The silence affected Elsie so that she wanted to scream. Her eyes were by this time accustomed to the semi-darkness, and she could see that Madame Clara was leaning forward, her loose sleeves falling away from her fat, bare arms, her elbows resting on the little table, and her hands over her eyes. Suddenly the woman drew herself upright, and turned towards Irene. “You, first. You have a stronger personality than your friend. It was you who brought her here. Do you wish me to look into the crystal for you?” “Yes, I do,” gasped Irene. Elsie wondered from where the crystal would appear, and then she noticed the faint outline of a globe in front of the seer, on the little stand. A thrill of superstitious awe ran through her. “Make your mind a blank as far as possible, please ... do not think of the past, the present, or the future ... relax ... relax ... relax....” Madame Clara’s voice deepened, and she began to speak very slowly and distinctly, leaning back in her chair, the crystal ball before her eyes. “Time is an arbitrary division made by man--the crystal will not always show what is past and what is to come. For instance, I see illness here--bodily suffering--but I do not know if it has visited you or is still to come. It may even be the suffering of one near to you....” She paused for an instant, and Elsie just caught Irene’s smothered exclamation of “Father!” “Hush, please,” said the seeress. “The shadow of sickness deepens--it deepens into the blackness of death. A man--an old man--he is dying. You will get money from him. Beware of those who seek to flatter you. You are impressionable, but clear-sighted; impulsive, yet self-controlled; reserved, but intensely passionate. I see marriage for you in the future, but with a man somewhat older than yourself. I see conflict....” She stopped again. “Perhaps the conflict is already over. You have certainly known love--passion----” Elsie, from mingled nervousness and embarrassment, suddenly giggled. The clairvoyante raised an authoritative hand. “It is impossible for me to go on if there are resistances,” she said angrily, in the voice that she had used at first, ugly and rather hoarse. “Shut up, Elsie!” came sharply from Irene. Elsie ran her finger-nails into her palms in an endeavour to check the nervous, spasmodic laughter that threatened to overcome her. “The current is broken,” said Madame Clara in an indignant voice. There was a silence. At last Elsie heard Irene say timidly: “Won’t you go on, madame?”