"And you would say what is true of me, up to the present moment. I prefer the plain bread-and-butter side of life, and though I hope I have a proper sympathy for my fellow-creatures, I am not given to extravagant sentiment. I am putting this description of myself in very plain words, because I really want you to understand me as I am." "I think I do understand you, Ned." "I have never had a nightmare," I continued, "and, as a rule, my sleep is dreamless. It is true that my rest has been a little disturbed lately by my wife's wish to move, but the few restless nights I have passed from this reason are quite an exception. To sum myself up briefly and concisely, I claim to be considered a healthy human being in mind and body." "It is not I, Ned, who would dispute that claim." "I have told you that the spectral figure of the girl appeared to me. A doctor would at once declare it to be a delusion of the senses. If my wife informed the doctor that she also saw it, he would reply that she also was suffering under a delusion, and he would attempt to explain it away on the ground of sympathy between us. But the opening of the door could be no delusion; it was tight shut, and the key was incontestibly turned in the lock; and yet it opened to admit the specter. The doctor would smile at this, and ask incredulously, 'Is it necessary for the entrance of an apparition, that a door should be open, when it possesses the power of passing through material obstacles?' It _does_ possess such a power, Bob; I have tested and proved it. Now, what I have been coming to is this. My wife saw one apparition; I saw two." "Two?" exclaimed Bob, regarding me more intently. "Yes, two. One, the girl, vanished; the other, the cat, remained." "In Heaven's name what are you talking about?" "I am relating an absolute fact. By the side of the girl appeared the apparition of a skeleton cat, which accompanied me from the house, which glided along the streets at my side, which entered my own house with me, and which now lies here, on this little space of carpet between us, on which you see--nothing. Now, Bob, tell me at once that I am mad." "I shall tell you nothing of the kind; I must have a little time to consider. What kind of reading do you indulge in? Sensation stories?" "I chiefly read the newspapers." "Digestion good, Ned?" "In perfect condition; for the last ten years I have not had a day's bad health." "All that is in your favor." "Thank you. I see that you are taking a medical view of my case." "Indeed, I am not; I only want to think it out for myself. You can actually see the cat?" "There it lies, its yellow eyes fixed on my face." "Touch it." I stretched forth my hand and passed it over and through the apparition. "Does it reply by any sign?" "By none." "And yet it moves?" "When I move. Otherwise it remains motionless, in a state of expectation, as it appears to me. "I don't quite understand, Ned."