"It is exceedingly kind of him," one elderly gentleman remarked stiffly. "He is explicit in his conditions," the President added. The members were beginning to seem really awake, and Judge Hobart asked with some quickness what the conditions were. "First," the President answered, "that his identity shall not be revealed. I am not to tell his name, and he trusts to the honor of any member who may recognize him. A meeting is to be appointed when and where we please. He is to know nothing more than the time. I am to send a carriage for him, to provide certain things of which he has given me a list, to arrange a room according to his directions, and to give him my word that no record of the meeting shall appear in the newspapers." "Are the things he wishes difficult to procure?" "This is the list," said Dr. Taunton, taking a paper from his pocket. "You will see that they are all sufficiently simple. "'Two rings of iron, four or five inches in diameter, interlocked and welded firmly. "'A ten-inch cube of hard wood. "'A six-inch cube of iron. "'A sealed letter, written by some member. "'A carpenter's saw. "'A gold-fish globe ten inches or so across. "'Three smaller globes, one filled with red, one with blue, and one with a colorless liquid. "'A scale on which a man may be weighed. "'A stick of sealing-wax. "'A flower-pot filled with earth. "'An orange seed.'" "The articles are simple enough," Judge Hobart commented. "Are the arrangements required difficult?" "No. He asks for a committee to examine him in the dressing-room; a platform insulated with glass and some substance he will furnish, and a little matter of the arrangement of lights that is easy enough." The members of the Club meditated in silence for a moment, and then Professor Gray spoke. "It must depend, it seems to me," he said, "on the sort of a man your mysterious magician is. If he is a person to be trusted, I should say go ahead." "He is a gentleman," the President answered; "a man of social standing, money, education, and with a reputation in his special branch of knowledge both here and in Europe. If I named him, you would, I feel sure, give him a hearing without question." "What is his specialty?" one member inquired. "I hardly think it would be fair for me to tell. It would possibly be too good a clue to his identity." "Is it fair to ask if it is connected with any psychical branch?" "Not in the least. I think I said at the start that I never suspected him of any interest in such subjects. He was asked to join this Club, and declined." "Did he give any particular reason?" The President smiled satirically. "He said it would never accomplish anything." "Perhaps that shows his common sense," Judge Hobart observed dryly. "I am bound to say that it has not accomplished much thus far. What I do not understand is why at this late day he takes an interest in our work."