The members of the Psychical Club gasped in astonishment. Surely upon the platform stood a large white elephant, twisting his pink trunk. "Or a palm tree," they heard the voice of the stranger say. No; not an elephant stood on the platform, but a tall and graceful date-palm, crowned with a splendid cluster of spreading fronds. "Or Dr. Taunton." The members looked in amazement from the figure of the President sitting in his chair, twirling his gold eye-glasses with his familiar gesture, and his double on the platform, as faithful as a reflection in a mirror, doing the same thing. "But all this is mere illusion," the voice went on; "I am none of these things." Once more they saw only the silken-clad figure, tall and supple, smiling under the black mask. "What I profess to do," the speaker continued, "I shall really do, and not depend upon cheating your senses. I shall hope to leave you proofs and evidences to establish this completely. The difficulty of the different expositions of force is not to be judged by appearances. First, for instance, I shall show you an exceedingly simple and easy thing. It has come to be customary, for some foolish reason, to speak of these phenomena as illustrations of the 'fourth dimension.' The term, I suppose, is as good as another, since it certainly conveys no definite idea whatever to people in general. I will ask a couple of gentlemen to take a pair of interlocked iron rings that I suppose are among the articles prepared, and to bring them to me. I do not wish to leave my insulation, as in later trials I shall need all my force." The rings were taken from the trunk and brought forward. They were of iron as thick as a man's thumb, were linked together, and firmly welded. To pull them apart would have been impossible for teams of strong horses. By the direction of the stranger they were held before him by the two gentlemen. "I have asked Dr. Taunton," he said, "to have the rings privately marked, so as to insure against any possible suspicion of substitution. I have never seen them." He leaned forward, and laid his hand lightly on the junction of the rings. They fell apart instantly. Both were unbroken; and neither gave the slightest appearance of strain or rupture. A murmur of surprise circled the room, and then the members of the Club broke into hearty applause. The stranger laughed frankly. "I thank you, gentlemen," he said good-humoredly; "but I am not a juggler." He asked next for the cube of wood and for the sealed letter. "I have never seen either of these," he said, the phrase being repeated almost with a mechanical indifference. "I suppose that the President or the person who wrote the letter can identify the note wherever he finds it." At his direction President Taunton held up before him the cube with the letter lying upon it. The stranger laid his hand over the letter, and then showed an empty palm toward the audience.