Theywere
standing
together
on
the
far
side
of
one
of
the
fixed
seats
.
There
was
the
policeman
who
had
blown
the
whistle
,
and
a
small
but
motley
crew
who
had
answered
to
the
call
.
Conspicuous
units
were
a
gentleman
in
dressing-gown
and
pyjamas
,
a
couple
of
chimneysweeps
,
and
a
labouring
cyclist
on
his
way
to
work
.
They
had
formed
a
circle
about
some
hidden
object
on
the
ground
;
and
long
before
the
new-comers
could
run
round
and
join
them
,
the
schoolboy
had
steeled
himself
to
look
upon
another
murdered
man
.
He
was
in
no
hurry
to
look
;
apart
from
a
natural
dread
of
death
,
which
he
had
seen
for
the
first
time
,
and
then
unwittingly
,
only
the
other
morning
,
it
was
the
murderer
and
not
his
victim
of
whom
the
boy
was
thinking
as
he
arrived
last
upon
the
scene
.
It
was
Dr.
Baumgartner
whom
he
half
expected
to
see
swimming
the
river
or
hiding
among
the
bushes
in
the
enclosed
garden
;
for
he
was
not
one
of
the
group
on
the
Embankment
;
and
how
else
could
he
have
made
his
escape
?
The
point
was
being
discussed
as
Pocket
came
into
earshot
;
all
he
could
see
of
the
fallen
man
was
the
soles
of
his
boots
upright
among
living
legs
.
“
Is
he
dead
?
”
he
asked
of
one
of
the
chimneysweeps
,
who
was
detaching
himself
from
the
group
with
the
air
of
a
man
who
had
seen
the
best
of
the
fun
.
“
Dead
as
an
'
erring
,
”
replied
the
sweep
cheerfully
.
“
Sooicide
in
the
usual
stite
o
'
mind
.
”
“
Rats
!
”
said
the
other
sweep
over
a
sooty
shoulder
;
“
unless
'
e
shot
'
isself
first
an
'
swallered
the
shooter
afterwards
!
Some'un
's
done
'
im
in
.
”
Pocket
set
his
teeth
,
and
shouldered
his
way
into
the
group
.
His
father
was
already
in
the
thick
of
it
,
talking
to
the
stout
man
in
spectacles
,
who
had
risen
miraculously
from
the
ground
and
was
busy
brushing
his
trouser-knees
.
Pocket
forced
himself
on
with
much
the
same
nutter
he
had
taken
into
the
Chamber
of
Horrors
,
but
with
an
equal
determination
to
look
just
once
upon
Dr.
Baumgartner
's
latest
victim
.
A
loud
cry
escaped
him
when
he
did
look
;
for
the
murdered
man
,
and
not
the
murderer
,
was
Dr.
Baumgartner
himself
.
WHAT
THE
THAMES
GAVE
UP
Phillida
was
prepared
for
anything
when
she
beheld
a
motor-car
at
the
gate
,
and
the
escaped
schoolboy
getting
out
with
a
grown
man
of
shaggy
and
embarrassed
aspect
;
but
she
was
not
prepared
for
the
news
they
brought
her
.
She
was
intensely
shocked
and
shaken
by
it
.
Her
grief
and
horror
were
not
the
less
overwhelming
for
the
shame
and
fear
which
they
replaced
in
her
mind
.
Yet
she
remained
instinctively
on
her
guard
,
and
a
passionate
curiosity
was
the
only
emotion
she
permitted
herself
to
express
in
words
.
“
But
have
they
no
idea
who
did
it
?
Are
they
quite
sure
he
did
n't
do
it
himself
?
”
Mr.
Upton
broke
through
his
heavy
embarrassment
with
no
little
relief
,
to
dispose
of
the
question
of
suicide
once
and
for
all
.
“
It
's
the
one
thing
they
are
sure
about
,
”
said
he
.
“
In
the
first
place
no
weapon
was
to
be
found
,
and
we
saw
no
sign
of
a
camera
either
,
though
this
boy
tells
me
your
uncle
had
his
with
him
when
he
went
out
.
That
's
more
or
less
conclusive
in
itself
.
But
there
was
a
doctor
on
the
spot
before
we
left
,
and
I
heard
him
say
the
shot
could
n't
have
been
fired
at
very
close
quarters
,
and
that
death
must
have
been
instantaneous
.
So
it
's
no
more
a
suicide
than
the
case
in
Park
Lane
yesterday
or
the
one
in
Hyde
Park
last
week
;
there
's
evidently
some
maniac
prowling
about
at
dawn
,
and
shooting
down
the
first
person
he
sees
and
then
vanishing
into
thin
air
as
maniacs
seem
to
have
a
knack
of
doing
more
effectually
than
sane
men
.
But
the
less
we
jump
to
conclusions
about
him
—
or
anybody
else
—
the
better
.
”
The
girl
was
grateful
for
the
covert
sympathy
of
the
last
remark
,
and
yet
it
startled
her
as
an
index
of
what
must
have
passed
already
between
father
and
son
.
It
was
a
new
humiliation
that
this
big
bluff
man
should
know
as
much
as
the
boy
whom
she
had
learnt
to
look
upon
as
a
comrade
in
calamity
.
Yet
she
could
not
expect
it
to
be
otherwise
.
“
What
must
you
think
!
”
she
cried
,
and
her
great
eyes
filled
and
fell
again
.
“
Oh
!
what
must
you
think
?
”
“
It
's
no
good
thinking
,
”
he
rejoined
,
with
almost
a
jovial
kindness
.
“
We
're
all
three
on
the
edge
of
a
mystery
;
we
must
see
each
other
through
before
we
think
.
Not
that
I
've
had
time
to
hear
everything
yet
,
but
I
own
I
ca
n't
make
head
or
tail
of
what
I
have
heard
.
I
'm
not
sure
that
I
want
to
.
I
like
a
man
's
secrets
to
die
with
him
;
it
's
enough
for
me
to
have
my
boy
back
again
,
and
to
know
that
you
stood
by
him
as
you
did
.
It
's
our
turn
to
stand
by
you
,
my
dear
!
He
says
it
was
n't
your
fault
he
did
n't
come
away
long
ago
;
and
it
sha
n't
be
mine
if
you
stay
another
hour
alone
in
this
haunted
house
.
You
've
got
to
come
straight
back
with
us
to
our
hotel
.
”
They
happened
to
be
all
three
standing
in
the
big
back
room
,
a
haunted
chamber
if
there
was
one
in
the
house
.
With
his
battle-pictures
on
the
walls
,
his
tin
of
tobacco
on
the
chimney-piece
,
and
the
scent
of
latakia
rising
from
the
carpet
,
the
whole
room
remained
redolent
of
the
murdered
man
;
and
the
window
still
open
,
the
two
chairs
near
it
as
they
had
been
overnight
,
and
the
lamp
lying
in
fragments
on
the
path
outside
,
brought
the
last
scene
back
to
the
boy
's
mind
in
full
and
vivid
detail
.
Yet
the
present
one
was
in
itself
more
desolate
and
depressing
than
any
in
which
Dr.
Baumgartner
had
figured
.
It
might
be
that
the
constant
menace
of
that
portentous
presence
had
thrown
his
simple
middle-class
surroundings
,
at
the
time
,
into
a
kind
of
reassuring
relief
.
But
it
was
the
case
that
the
morning
had
already
clouded
over
;
the
sunshine
of
the
other
mornings
was
sadly
missing
;
and
Phillida
looked
only
too
eager
to
fly
from
the
scene
,
until
she
declared
she
never
could
.
“
But
that
's
absurd
!
”
cried
Mr.
Upton
bluntly
.
“
I
'm
not
going
to
leave
a
young
girl
like
you
alone
in
the
day
of
battle
,
murder
and
sudden
death
!
You
need
n't
necessarily
come
with
us
,
as
long
as
you
do
n't
stay
here
.
Have
you
no
other
relatives
in
London
?
”
“
None
anywhere
that
I
know
much
about
.
”
“
That
does
n't
matter
.
It
's
time
they
knew
more
about
you
.
I
'll
hunt
them
up
in
the
motor
,
if
they
're
anywhere
within
a
hundred
miles
,
but
you
simply
must
let
me
take
their
place
meanwhile
.
”
He
was
a
masterful
man
enough
;
it
did
not
require
the
schoolboy
's
added
supplications
to
bring
about
an
eventual
compromise
.
The
idea
had
indeed
been
Pocket
's
originally
,
but
his
father
had
taken
it
up
more
warmly
than
he
could
have
hoped
.
It
was
decided
that
they
should
return
to
their
hotel
without
Phillida
,
but
to
send
the
car
back
for
her
later
in
the
morning
,
as
it
would
take
her
some
time
to
pack
her
things
and
leave
the
deserted
house
in
some
semblance
of
order
.
But
her
packing
was
a
very
small
matter
,
and
she
left
it
to
the
end
;
most
of
the
time
at
her
disposal
was
spent
in
a
hurried
investigation
of
the
dead
man
's
effects
,
more
especially
of
his
store
of
negatives
in
the
dark-room
.
The
only
incriminating
plates
,
however
,
were
the
one
she
had
already
seen
on
its
discovery
by
Pocket
the
day
before
and
another
of
a
man
lying
in
a
heap
in
the
middle
of
a
road
.
This
one
had
been
put
to
dry
openly
in
the
rack
,
the
wood
of
which
was
still
moist
from
the
process
.
Phillida
only
held
it
up
to
the
light
an
instant
,
and
then
not
only
smashed
both
these
negatives
,
but
poured
boiling
water
on
the
films
and
floated
them
down
the
sink
.
The
bits
of
glass
she
put
in
the
dust-bin
with
those
of
the
broken
lamp
,
and
had
hardly
done
so
when
the
first
policeman
arrived
to
report
the
fatality
.
He
was
succeeded
by
a
very
superior
officer
,
who
gained
admittance
and
asked
a
number
of
questions
concerning
the
deceased
,
but
in
a
perfunctory
manner
that
suggested
few
if
any
expectations
from
the
replies
.
Neither
functionary
made
any
secret
of
his
assumption
that
the
latest
murder
was
but
another
of
the
perfectly
random
series
which
had
already
thrilled
the
town
,
but
on
which
no
light
was
likely
to
be
shed
by
the
antecedents
of
the
murdered
men
.
A
third
official
came
to
announce
that
the
inquest
was
to
be
opened
without
delay
,
at
two
o'clock
that
afternoon
,
and
to
request
Phillida
to
accompany
him
to
the
mortuary
for
the
formal
identification
of
the
deceased
.
That
was
a
dread
ordeal
,
and
yet
she
expected
a
worse
.
She
had
steeled
herself
to
look
upon
a
debased
image
of
the
familiar
face
,
and
she
found
it
startlingly
ennobled
and
refined
.
Death
had
taken
away
nothing
here
,
save
the
furrows
of
age
and
the
fires
of
madness
,
and
it
had
given
back
the
look
of
fine
courage
and
of
sane
integrity
which
the
girl
was
just
old
enough
to
associate
with
the
dead
man
's
prime
.
She
was
thankful
to
have
seen
him
like
this
for
the
last
time
.
She
wished
that
all
the
world
could
see
him
as
he
was
,
so
noble
and
so
calm
,
for
then
nobody
would
ever
suspect
that
which
she
herself
would
find
it
easier
to
disbelieve
from
this
hour
.
“
You
do
identify
him
,
I
suppose
,
miss
?
”
the
officer
whispered
,
impressed
by
her
strange
stare
.
“
Oh
,
yes
!
”
said
Phillida
.
“
But
he
looks
as
I
have
not
seen
him
look
for
years
.
There
are
worse
things
than
death
!
”
She
said
the
same
thing
to
Mr.
Upton
at
luncheon
in
his
private
sitting-room
at
the
hotel
,
whereupon
he
again
assured
her
that
he
had
no
desire
to
know
a
dead
man
's
secrets
.
He
had
found
his
boy
;
that
was
quite
enough
for
him
,
and
he
was
able
to
deliver
himself
the
more
freely
on
the
subject
since
Pocket
was
not
at
table
,
but
in
bed
making
up
for
lost
sleep
.
Not
only
had
he
succeeded
in
finding
his
son
,
but
he
had
found
him
without
the
aid
of
police
or
press
,
and
so
not
more
than
a
dozen
people
in
the
world
knew
that
he
had
ever
disappeared
.
Mr.
Upton
explained
why
he
had
deemed
it
essential
to
keep
the
matter
from
his
wife
's
ears
,
and
added
almost
equally
good
reasons
for
continuing
to
hush
it
up
on
the
boy
's
account
if
only
it
were
possible
to
do
so
;
but
would
it
be
possible
to
Phillida
to
exclude
from
her
evidence
at
the
inquest
all
mention
of
so
recent
a
visitor
at
her
uncle
's
house
?
Phillida
promised
to
do
her
best
,
and
it
proved
not
only
possible
but
easy
.
She
was
questioned
as
to
the
habits
of
the
deceased
so
far
as
they
explained
his
presence
on
the
Embankment
at
such
a
very
early
hour
,
but
that
was
all
.
Asked
if
she
knew
of
a
single
person
who
could
conceivably
have
borne
such
a
grudge
against
Dr.
Baumgartner
as
to
wish
to
take
his
life
,
the
witness
answered
in
the
negative
,
and
the
coroner
bowed
as
much
as
to
say
that
of
course
they
all
knew
the
character
of
the
murder
,
but
he
had
put
the
question
for
form
's
sake
.
The
only
one
which
caused
her
a
moment
's
hesitation
arose
from
a
previous
answer
,
which
connected
the
doctor
's
early
ramblings
with
his
hobby
of
instantaneous
photography
.
Had
he
his
camera
with
him
that
morning
?
Phillida
thought
so
.
Why
?
Well
,
he
always
did
take
it
out
,
and
it
certainly
was
not
in
the
house
.
Mr.
Upton
wiped
his
forehead
,
for
he
knew
that
his
boy
's
name
had
been
on
the
tip
of
the
witness
's
tongue
.
And
there
was
a
sensation
in
court
as
well
;
for
here
at
last
was
a
bone
for
the
detectives
,
who
obtained
a
minute
description
of
the
missing
camera
,
but
grumbled
openly
that
they
had
not
heard
of
it
before
.
“
They
never
told
me
they
had
n't
got
it
,
”
explained
Phillida
to
the
coroner
,
who
made
her
his
courteous
bow
,
and
permitted
her
to
leave
the
court
on
the
conclusion
of
her
evidence
.
On
the
stairs
Mr.
Upton
paid
her
compliments
that
made
her
wince
as
much
as
the
crude
grip
of
his
hand
;
but
he
was
tact
itself
compared
with
his
friend
Mr.
Thrush
,
who
sought
an
interview
in
order
to
ply
the
poor
girl
there
and
then
with
far
more
searching
questions
than
she
had
been
required
to
answer
upon
oath
.
She
could
only
look
at
Mr.
Upton
in
a
way
that
secured
his
peppery
intervention
in
a
moment
.
The
two
men
had
scarcely
seen
each
other
since
the
morning
,
and
the
ironmaster
thought
they
had
enough
to
say
to
each
other
without
bothering
Miss
Platts
just
then
;
they
accordingly
adjourned
to
Glasshouse
Street
,
and
Phillida
was
to
have
gone
on
to
the
hotel
;
but
she
made
them
drop
her
at
a
shop
near
Sloane
Square
on
the
pretext
of
seeing
about
her
mourning
.
Phillida
had
promised
to
drive
straight
back
to
Trafalgar
Square
and
order
tea
for
herself
if
Tony
had
not
appeared
;
but
she
did
not
drive
straight
back
.
She
had
a
curious
desire
to
see
the
place
where
the
murder
had
been
committed
.
It
had
come
upon
her
at
the
inquest
,
while
listening
to
the
constable
who
had
found
the
body
,
her
predecessor
in
the
witness-box
.
She
had
failed
to
follow
his
evidence
.
He
had
described
that
portion
of
his
beat
which
had
brought
him
almost
on
the
scene
of
the
murder
,
almost
at
the
moment
of
its
commission
.
It
included
only
the
short
section
of
Cheyne
Walk
between
Oakley
Street
and
Cheyne
Row
.
The
houses
at
this
point
are
divided
from
the
Embankment
by
the
narrow
garden
which
contains
the
Carlyle
statue
.
He
had
turned
up
Cheyne
Row
,
at
the
back
of
the
statue
,
but
before
turning
he
had
noticed
a
man
on
the
seat
facing
the
river
on
the
far
side
of
the
garden
.
The
man
was
sitting
down
,
but
he
was
said
to
have
turned
round
and
watched
the
policeman
as
he
passed
along
Cheyne
Walk
.
There
might
have
been
a
second
man
lying
on
that
seat
,
or
crouching
on
the
flags
between
the
seat
and
the
parapet
,
but
he
would
have
been
invisible
from
the
beat
.
Not
another
creature
was
in
sight
anywhere
.
Yet
the
policeman
swore
that
he
had
not
proceeded
a
dozen
yards
up
Cheyne
Row
before
the
shot
was
fired
.
He
had
turned
round
actually
in
time
to
see
the
puff
of
smoke
dispersing
over
the
parapet
.
It
was
all
he
saw
.
He
had
found
the
deceased
lying
in
a
heap
,
nearer
the
seat
than
the
parapet
,
but
between
the
two
.
Not
another
soul
did
he
see
,
or
had
he
seen
.
And
he
had
not
neglected
to
look
over
the
parapet
into
the
river
,
and
along
the
foreshore
in
both
directions
,
without
discovering
sign
or
trace
of
human
being
.
Such
was
the
story
which
Phillida
found
so
hard
to
credit
that
she
proceeded
to
the
spot
in
order
to
go
over
the
ground
for
her
own
satisfaction
.
This
did
not
make
it
easier
to
understand
.
It
had
come
on
to
rain
heavily
while
she
was
in
the
shop
;
the
shining
Embankment
was
again
practically
deserted
,
and
she
was
able
to
carry
out
her
experiment
without
exciting
observation
.
She
took
a
dozen
steps
up
Cheyne
Row
,
pretended
she
heard
the
shot
,
turned
sharp
round
,
and
quite
realised
that
from
where
she
was
the
body
could
not
have
been
seen
,
hidden
as
it
must
have
been
by
the
seat
,
which
itself
was
almost
hidden
by
the
long
and
narrow
island
of
enclosed
garden
.
But
a
running
man
could
have
been
seen
through
the
garden
,
even
if
he
stooped
as
he
ran
,
and
the
murderer
must
have
run
like
the
wind
to
get
away
as
he
had
done
.
The
gates
through
the
garden
,
back
and
front
of
the
statue
,
had
not
been
opened
for
the
day
when
the
murder
took
place
,
so
Phillida
in
her
turn
made
a
half-circuit
of
the
island
to
get
to
the
spot
where
the
body
had
been
found
,
but
without
taking
her
eyes
off
the
spot
until
she
reached
it
.
No
!
It
was
as
she
had
thought
all
along
;
by
nothing
short
of
a
miracle
could
the
assassin
have
escaped
observation
if
the
policeman
had
eyes
in
his
head
and
had
acted
as
he
swore
he
had
done
.
He
might
have
dashed
into
the
garden
,
when
the
policeman
was
at
his
furthest
point
distant
,
if
the
gates
had
been
open
as
they
were
now
;
but
they
had
been
locked
,
and
he
could
not
have
scaled
them
unobserved
.
Neither
would
it
have
been
possible
to
take
a
header
into
the
river
with
the
foreshore
as
described
by
the
same
witness
.
Yet
the
murderer
had
either
done
one
of
these
things
,
or
the
flags
of
the
Embankment
had
opened
and
swallowed
him
.
The
girl
stood
on
the
very
spot
where
the
murdered
man
must
have
fallen
,
and
in
her
utter
perplexity
it
was
no
longer
the
tragedy
but
the
problem
which
engrossed
her
mind
.
What
had
happened
,
had
happened
;
but
how
could
it
have
happened
?
She
raised
her
umbrella
and
peered
through
the
rain
at
a
red
pile
of
many-windowed
flats
;
had
that
Argus
of
the
hundred
eyes
been
sleeping
without
one
of
them
open
at
the
time
?
Her
own
eyes
fell
as
far
as
the
black
statue
in
the
narrow
garden
,
standing
out
hi
the
rain
,
like
the
greenery
about
its
granite
base
,
as
though
the
blackened
bronze
were
polished
marble
.
How
lifelike
the
colossal
scholar
in
his
homely
garb
!
How
scornful
and
how
shrewd
the
fixed
eternal
gaze
across
his
own
old
Father
Thames
!
It
assumed
another
character
as
the
girl
gazed
in
her
turn
,
she
seemed
to
intercept
that
stony
stare
,
to
distract
it
from
the
river
to
herself
,
and
to
her
fevered
fancy
the
grim
lips
smiled
contemptuously
on
her
and
her
quandary
.
He
knew
—
he
knew
—
those
grim
old
eyes
had
seen
it
all
,
and
still
they
stared
and
smiled
as
much
as
to
say
:
“
You
are
looking
the
wrong
way
!
Look
where
I
am
looking
;
that
way
lies
the
truth
you
are
poor
fool
enough
to
want
to
know
!
”
And
Phillida
turned
her
back
towards
the
shiny
statue
,
and
looked
over
the
wet
parapet
,
almost
expecting
to
see
something
,
but
never
dreaming
of
what
she
actually
saw
.
The
tide
,
which
must
have
been
coming
in
that
early
morning
,
was
now
going
out
,
and
between
the
Embankment
masonry
and
the
river
there
was
again
a
draggled
ribbon
of
shelving
foreshore
,
black
as
on
some
volcanic
coast
;
and
between
land
and
water
,
at
a
point
that
would
necessarily
have
been
submerged
for
the
last
eight
or
nine
hours
,
a
small
object
was
being
laid
more
bare
by
every
receding
wavelet
.
It
was
black
and
square
,
perhaps
the
size
of
two
large
cigar-boxes
side
by
side
;
and
it
had
one
long
,
thin
,
reddish
tentacle
,
finishing
in
a
bulb
that
moved
about
gently
in
the
rain-pocked
water
.
Phillida
felt
the
parapet
strike
cold
and
wet
through
her
rain-coat
sleeves
as
she
leant
far
over
to
make
doubly
sure
what
she
object
was
;
but
indeed
she
had
not
a
moment
's
doubt
but
that
it
was
the
missing
camera
of
the
murdered
man
.
AFTER
THE
FAIR
Mr.
Upton
was
dumfoundered
when
the
top-floor
door
in
Glasshouse
Street
was
opened
before
Eugene
Thrush
could
insert
his
key
;
for
it
was
the
sombre
Mullins
who
admitted
the
gentleman
as
though
nothing
had
happened
to
him
except
a
fairly
recent
shave
.
“
I
thought
he
was
in
prison
?
”
exclaimed
the
ironmaster
when
the
two
were
closeted
.
“
Do
you
ever
read
your
paper
?
”
“
I
have
n't
looked
at
one
since
Plymouth
.
”
“
Well
,
I
howked
him
out
first
thing
yesterday
morning
.
”
“
You
did
,
Thrush
?
”
“
Why
not
?
I
had
need
of
the
fellow
,
and
that
part
of
the
game
was
up
.
”
Mr.
Upton
showed
symptoms
of
his
old
irritability
under
the
Thrush
mannerism
.
“
My
good
fellow
,
I
wish
to
goodness
you
'd
explain
yourself
!
”
“
If
I
cared
to
be
profane
,
”
returned
Thrush
,
mixing
drinks
in
the
corner
,
“
I
should
refer
you
to
the
first
chapter
of
the
Book
of
Job
.
I
provided
the
prisoner
,
and
I
'd
a
perfect
right
to
take
him
away
again
.
Blessed
be
the
song
of
the
Thrush
!
”
“
You
say
you
provided
him
?
”
“
In
other
words
,
I
laid
the
information
against
my
own
man
,
but
only
with
his
own
consent
.
”
“
Well
,
well
,
you
must
have
your
joke
,
I
suppose
.
I
can
afford
to
put
up
with
it
now
.
”
“
It
was
n't
meant
as
a
joke
,
”
returned
Thrush
,
and
drank
deep
while
his
client
sipped
.
“
If
it
had
come
off
it
would
have
been
the
coup
of
my
career
;
as
it
did
n't
—
quite
—
one
must
laugh
it
off
at
one
's
own
expense
.
Your
son
has
told
you
what
that
poor
old
sinner
made
him
think
he
'd
done
?
”
“
Of
course
.
”
“
Would
it
surprise
you
to
hear
that
one
or
two
others
thought
the
same
thing
?
”
“
Not
you
,
Thrush
?
”
“
Not
I
to
quite
the
same
positive
extent
as
my
rascal
Mullins
.
He
jumped
to
it
from
scratch
!
”
“
He
connected
Tony
with
the
Park
murder
?
”
“
From
the
word
“
go
.
”
”
“
On
the
strength
of
an
asthma
cigarette
and
my
poor
wife
's
dream
?
”
“
No
;
he
did
n't
know
about
the
dream
.
But
he
refused
to
believe
in
two
independent
mysteries
at
one
time
and
on
one
spot
.
The
eternal
unities
was
too
many
measles
for
Mullins
,
though
he
never
heard
tell
of
'
em
in
his
life
.
”
Mr.
Upton
was
no
longer
irritated
by
the
other
's
flippancy
.
He
looked
at
Thrush
with
a
shining
face
.
“
And
you
never
told
me
what
was
in
your
minds
!
”
“
It
was
poison
even
in
mine
;
it
would
have
been
deadly
poison
to
you
,
in
the
state
you
were
in
.
I
say
!
I
'll
wear
batting-gloves
the
next
time
we
shake
hands
!
”
and
Thrush
blew
softly
on
his
mangled
fingers
.
“
You
believed
he
'd
done
it
,
and
you
kept
it
to
yourself
,
”
murmured
Mr.
Upton
,
still
much
impressed
.
“
Tell
me
,
my
dear
fellow
—
did
you
believe
it
after
that
interview
with
Baumgartner
in
his
house
?
”
Thrush
emptied
his
glass
at
once
.
“
Do
n't
remind
me
of
that
interview
,
Mr.
Upton
;
there
was
the
lad
on
the
other
side
of
so
much
lath-and-plaster
,
and
I
could
n't
scent
him
through
it
!
But
he
never
made
a
sound
,
confound
him
!
”
“
Tony
's
told
me
about
that
;
they
were
whispering
,
for
reasons
of
their
own
.
”
“
I
ought
to
have
seen
that
old
man
listening
!
His
ears
must
have
grown
before
my
purblind
eyes
!
But
his
story
was
an
extraordinarily
interesting
and
circumstantial
effort
.
And
to
come
back
to
your
question
,
it
did
fit
in
with
the
theory
of
a
fatal
accident
on
your
boy
's
part
;
he
was
frightened
to
show
his
face
at
school
after
sleeping
in
the
Park
,
let
alone
what
he
was
supposed
to
have
done
there
;
and
that
,
he
believed
,
would
break
his
mother
's
heart
in
any
case
.
”
“
By
Jove
,
and
so
it
might
!
It
would
n't
take
much
just
now
,
”
said
Mr.
Upton
,
sadly
.
“
So
he
thought
of
the
ship
you
would
n't
let
him
go
out
in
—
and
the
whole
thing
fitted
in
!
Of
course
he
had
told
the
old
ruffian
—
saving
his
presence
elsewhere
—
all
about
the
forbidden
voyage
;
and
that
gentleman
of
genius
had
it
ready
for
immediate
use
.
I
'm
bound
to
say
he
used
it
on
me
with
excellent
effect
.
”
“
Same
here
,
”
said
the
ironmaster
—
“
though
I
'd
no
idea
what
you
suspected
.
I
thought
it
a
conceivable
way
out
of
any
bad
scrape
,
for
that
particular
boy
.
”
“
It
imposed
upon
us
all
,
”
said
Thrush
,
“
but
one
.
I
was
prepared
to
believe
it
if
you
did
,
and
you
believed
it
because
you
did
n't
know
your
boy
as
well
as
you
do
now
.
But
Miss
Upton
,
who
seems
to
know
him
better
than
anybody
else
—
do
you
remember
how
she
would
n't
hear
of
it
for
a
moment
?
”
“
I
do
so
,
God
bless
her
!
”
“
That
shook
me
,
or
rather
it
prevented
me
from
accepting
what
I
never
had
quite
accepted
in
my
heart
.
That
's
another
story
,
and
you
're
only
in
the
mood
for
one
at
present
;
but
after
seeing
Baumgartner
on
Saturday
,
I
thought
I
'd
like
to
know
a
little
more
about
him
,
not
from
outsiders
but
from
the
inside
of
his
own
skull
.
So
I
went
to
the
British
Museum
to
have
a
look
at
his
books
.
It
was
after
hours
for
getting
books
,
but
I
made
such
representations
that
they
cut
their
red
tape
for
once
;
and
I
soon
read
enough
to
wonder
whether
my
grave
and
reverend
seignior
was
quite
all
there
.
Spiritualism
one
knows
,
but
here
was
spiritualism
with
a
difference
;
psychic
photography
one
had
heard
about
,
but
here
was
a
psychical
photographer
gone
mad
or
bad
!
When
a
gifted
creature
puts
into
admirable
English
his
longing
to
snap-shoot
the
souls
of
murderers
coming
up
through
the
drop
,
like
the
clown
at
Drury
Lane
,
you
begin
to
want
him
elected
to
a
fauteuil
in
Broadmoor
.
Will
you
believe
me
when
I
tell
you
that
I
stumbled
mentally
on
the
very
thing
I
shall
presently
prove
to
have
been
the
truth
,
and
that
I
dismissed
it
from
my
mind
as
the
wildest
impossibility
?
”
“
I
do
n't
see
how
you
're
going
to
prove
it
now
,
”
remarked
Mr.
Upton
,
who
hoped
there
would
be
no
such
proof
,
for
the
sake
of
the
girl
who
had
been
good
to
his
boy
;
but
that
was
a
private
consideration
which
there
was
no
necessity
to
express
.
“
I
shall
want
another
chat
with
your
lad
when
he
's
had
his
sleep
out
,
”
replied
Thrush
,
significantly
;
“
he
's
told
me
quite
enough
to
make
me
eager
for
more
.
But
you
have
n't
told
me
anything
about
your
own
adventures
?
”
And
he
got
another
drink
to
help
him
listen
;
for
as
a
rule
the
ironmaster
was
only
succinct
when
thoroughly
irate
.
But
now
for
once
he
was
both
brief
and
amiable
.
“
What
have
I
to
tell
compared
with
you
?
”
he
asked
.
“
Those
damned
old
wooden
walls
only
cleared
the
Thames
on
Sunday
morning
,
and
they
were
n't
near
Plymouth
when
I
left
last
night
;
but
my
little
aluminium
lot
broke
all
her
records
before
I
broke
one
of
her
wheels
.
What
I
want
to
know
is
what
you
did
from
the
time
I
left
on
Sunday
night
to
that
great
moment
this
morning
.
”
“
I
sat
down
to
watch
Baumgartner
,
his
house
,
”
replied
Thrush
.
“
The
merit
of
those
quiet
little
streets
is
that
there
are
always
apartments
of
sorts
,
though
not
always
the
most
admirable
sort
,
to
be
had
in
half
the
houses
.
There
was
quite
a
choice
bang
opposite
Baumgartner
's
,
and
I
'd
taken
a
front
room
before
you
were
through
Hammersmith
.
Of
course
I
explained
that
I
had
lost
a
last
train
,
and
the
landlady
's
son
embarrassed
me
with
pyjamas
of
inadequate
dimensions
.
Well
,
I
sat
at
the
front
window
all
night
,
for
no
better
reasons
than
my
strong
feeling
about
the
doctor
's
writings
,
and
your
daughter
's
disbelief
in
his
yarn
about
her
brother
.
Soon
after
five
in
the
morning
the
old
bird
came
out
,
and
I
was
after
him
like
knife
.
I
tracked
him
to
Knightsbridge
without
much
difficulty
,
excepting
the
one
of
avoiding
being
spotted
,
but
there
that
happened
by
the
merest
accident
.
He
was
passing
under
the
scaffolding
outside
the
church
they
're
pulling
down
there
,
and
he
's
so
tall
he
knocked
his
hat
off
.
I
admit
I
was
too
close
.
He
saw
,
and
must
have
recognised
me
;
but
I
should
n't
have
recognised
him
if
I
had
n't
seen
him
start
out
.
He
was
wearing
a
false
beard
and
spectacles
!
”
“
That
's
proof
positive
,
”
said
ingenuous
Mr.
Upton
,
under
his
breath
.
“
Well
,
I
confess
it
's
something
like
it
in
this
case
;
but
it
was
a
very
awkward
moment
for
me
.
I
had
n't
to
let
him
see
I
knew
him
,
nor
yet
that
I
was
following
him
,
and
the
only
way
was
to
abandon
the
chase
as
openly
as
possible
.
It
was
then
I
decided
that
it
was
no
use
leaving
poor
old
Mullins
in
pawn
to
the
police
.
I
redeemed
him
without
delay
.
We
went
back
to
my
new
rooms
together
,
which
I
need
n't
tell
you
I
liked
so
much
that
I
brought
a
suit-case
and
took
them
for
a
week
.
Of
course
,
as
we
had
lost
the
run
of
Baumgartner
,
the
next
best
thing
was
to
watch
for
his
return
.
Mullins
took
that
on
while
I
got
some
sleep
;
when
I
awoke
the
Park
Lane
murder
was
the
latest
,
and
I
wo
n't
say
I
did
n't
suspect
who
'd
done
it
.
Perhaps
I
did
n't
tell
you
he
had
his
camera
with
him
as
well
as
beard
and
goggles
,
and
all
three
figured
in
the
first
reports
.
”
“
But
all
this
time
you
had
no
idea
my
boy
was
in
the
house
?
”
“
None
whatever
;
we
saw
the
girl
once
or
twice
,
but
that
was
all
until
I
wired
last
night
.
What
I
never
saw
myself
was
Baumgartner
's
return
;
but
in
the
afternoon
I
sent
Mullins
round
to
another
road
to
try
and
get
a
room
overlooking
the
place
from
the
back
.
Well
,
the
houses
were
too
much
class
for
that
;
but
one
was
empty
,
and
he
got
the
key
and
risked
going
back
to
prison
for
the
cause
!
Suffice
it
that
he
set
eyes
on
both
man
and
boy
before
I
sent
that
wire
.
”
“
And
you
left
my
son
in
that
murderer
's
clutches
a
minute
longer
than
you
could
help
?
”
It
was
a
previous
incarnation
of
Pocket
's
father
that
broke
in
with
this
.
“
You
must
remember
in
the
first
place
that
I
could
n't
be
in
the
least
sure
it
was
your
son
;
in
the
second
,
if
murder
had
been
intended
,
murder
would
have
been
done
with
as
little
delay
in
his
case
as
in
the
others
;
thirdly
,
that
we
've
nothing
to
show
that
Dr.
Baumgartner
is
an
actual
murderer
at
all
,
but
,
fourthly
,
that
to
raid
his
place
was
the
way
to
make
him
one
.
Poor
Mullins
,
too
,
as
the
original
Sherlock
of
the
show
,
was
desperately
against
calling
in
the
police
under
any
circumstances
.
He
assured
me
there
was
no
sign
of
bad
blood
about
the
house
,
until
the
small
hours
,
and
then
he
saw
your
son
make
his
escape
.
I
told
him
he
should
have
collared
the
lad
,
but
he
lost
sight
of
him
in
the
night
and
preferred
to
keep
an
eye
on
that
poor
desperate
doctor
.
”
Thrush
treated
this
part
of
his
narrative
with
the
peculiar
confidence
which
most
counsel
reserve
for
the
less
satisfactory
aspects
of
their
case
.
But
Mr.
Upton
was
not
in
a
mood
to
press
a
point
of
grievance
against
anybody
.
And
the
name
of
Mullins
reminded
him
that
his
curiosity
on
a
very
different
point
had
not
been
gratified
.
“
Why
on
earth
did
you
have
Mullins
run
in
?
”
he
inquired
,
with
characteristic
absence
of
finesse
.
“
I
'm
not
very
proud
of
it
,
”
replied
Thrush
.
“
It
did
n't
come
off
,
you
see
.
”
“
But
whatever
could
the
object
have
been
?
”
“
I
must
have
a
damn-it
if
I
'm
to
tell
you
that
,
”
said
Thrush
;
and
the
ironmaster
concluded
that
he
meant
a
final
drink
,
from
the
action
which
he
suited
to
the
oath
.
“
It
was
one
way
that
occurred
to
me
of
putting
salt
on
the
lad
.
”
“
Tony
?
”
“
Yes
.
”
“
You
puzzle
me
more
and
more
.
”
“
Well
,
you
see
,
I
gathered
that
he
was
a
particularly
honourable
boy
,
of
fine
sensibilities
,
and
yet
Mullins
thought
he
had
shot
this
man
by
accident
and
was
lying
low
.
I
only
thought
that
,
if
that
were
so
,
the
news
of
an
innocent
man
's
arrest
would
bring
him
into
the
open
as
quick
as
anything
.
Mullins
proving
amenable
to
terms
,
and
having
really
been
within
a
hundred
miles
of
both
murders
at
the
time
they
were
committed
,
the
rest
was
elementary
.
But
what
's
the
good
of
talking
about
it
?
It
did
n't
come
off
.
”
“
It
very
nearly
did
!
I
can
tell
you
that
straight
from
Tony
;
he
was
going
to
give
himself
up
yesterday
morning
,
if
he
had
n't
accidentally
satisfied
himself
of
his
own
innocence
.
”
Mr.
Upton
said
more
than
this
,
but
it
was
the
explicit
statement
of
fact
that
alone
afforded
Thrush
real
consolation
.
His
spectacled
eyes
blinked
keenly
behind
their
flashing
lenses
;
the
button
of
a
nose
underneath
twitched
as
though
it
scented
battle
once
again
;
and
the
drink
with
the
opprobrious
name
was
suddenly
put
down
unfinished
.
“
If
only
I
could
find
that
camera
!
”
he
cried
.
“
It
's
the
touchstone
of
the
whole
thing
,
mark
my
words
.
If
it
's
an
accomplice
who
did
this
thing
,
he
's
got
it
;
even
if
not
—
—
”
He
stood
silenced
by
a
sudden
thought
,
a
gleam
of
light
that
illumined
his
whole
flushed
face
.
“
Mullins
!
”
he
roared
.
Mullins
was
on
the
spot
with
somewhat
suspicious
alacrity
.
“
Get
the
almanac
,
Mullins
,
and
look
up
Time
of
High
Water
at
London
Bridge
to-day
!
”
He
himself
flopped
down
behind
the
telephone
to
ring
up
the
cab-office
in
Bolton
Street
.
But
it
takes
time
even
for
a
Eugene
Thrush
to
consume
all
but
three
large
whiskies
and
sodas
;
and
the
afternoon
was
already
far
advanced
.
THE
SECRET
OF
THE
CAMERA
The
camera
had
been
placed
upon
a
folded
newspaper
,
for
the
better
preservation
of
the
hotel
table-cloth
.
Its
apertures
were
still
choked
with
mud
;
beads
of
slime
kept
breaking
out
along
the
joints
.
And
Phillida
was
still
explaining
to
Pocket
how
the
thing
had
come
into
her
possession
.
“
The
rain
was
the
greatest
piece
of
luck
,
though
another
big
slice
was
an
iron
gangway
to
the
foreshore
about
a
hundred
yards
up-stream
.
It
was
coming
down
so
hard
at
the
time
that
I
could
n't
see
another
creature
out
in
it
except
myself
.
I
do
n't
believe
a
single
soul
saw
me
run
down
that
gangway
and
up
again
;
but
I
dropped
my
purse
over
first
for
an
excuse
if
anybody
did
.
I
popped
the
camera
under
my
waterproof
,
and
carried
it
up
to
the
King
's
Road
before
I
could
get
a
cab
.
But
I
never
expected
to
find
you
awake
and
about
again
;
next
to
the
rain
that
's
the
best
luck
of
all
!
”
“
Why
?
”
“
Because
you
know
all
about
photography
and
I
do
n't
.
Suppose
he
took
a
last
photograph
,
and
suppose
that
led
directly
to
the
murder
!
”
“
That
's
an
idea
.
”
“
The
man
threw
the
camera
into
the
river
,
but
the
plate
would
be
in
it
still
,
and
you
could
develop
it
!
”
The
ingenious
hypothesis
had
appealed
to
the
eager
credulity
of
the
boy
;
but
at
the
final
proposition
he
shook
a
reluctant
head
.
“
I
'm
afraid
there
's
not
much
chance
of
there
being
anything
to
develop
;
the
slide
's
been
open
all
this
time
,
you
see
.
”
“
I
know
.
I
tried
to
shut
it
,
but
the
wood
must
have
swollen
in
the
water
.
Yet
the
more
it
has
swollen
,
the
better
it
ought
to
keep
out
the
light
,
ought
n't
it
?
”
“
I
'm
afraid
there
is
n't
a
dog
's
chance
,
”
he
murmured
,
as
he
handled
the
camera
again
.
Yet
it
was
not
of
the
folding-bellows
variety
,
but
was
one
of
the
earlier
and
stronger
models
in
box
form
,
and
it
had
come
through
its
ordeal
wonderfully
on
the
whole
.
Nothing
was
absolutely
broken
;
but
the
swollen
slide
jammed
obstinately
,
until
in
trying
to
shut
it
by
main
force
,
Pocket
lost
his
grip
of
the
slimy
apparatus
,
and
sent
it
flying
to
the
floor
,
all
but
the
slide
which
came
out
bodily
in
his
hand
.
“
That
settles
it
,
”
remarked
Phillida
,
resignedly
.
The
exposed
plate
stared
them
in
the
face
,
a
sickly
yellow
in
the
broad
daylight
.
It
was
cracked
across
the
middle
,
but
almost
dry
and
otherwise
uninjured
.
“
I
am
sorry
!
”
exclaimed
Pocket
,
as
they
stood
over
the
blank
sheet
of
glass
and
gelatine
;
it
was
like
looking
at
a
slate
from
which
some
infinitely
precious
message
had
been
expunged
unread
.
“
I
'm
not
sure
that
you
were
n't
right
after
all
;
what
's
water-tight
must
be
more
or
less
light-tight
,
when
you
come
to
think
of
it
.
I
say
,
what
's
all
this
?
The
other
side
ought
n't
to
bulge
like
that
!
”
He
picked
the
broken
plate
out
of
the
side
that
was
already
open
,
and
weighed
the
slide
in
his
hand
;
it
was
not
heavy
enough
to
contain
another
plate
,
he
declared
with
expert
conviction
;
yet
the
side
which
had
not
been
opened
was
a
slightly
bulging
but
distinctly
noticeable
convexity
.
Pocket
opened
it
at
a
word
from
Phillida
,
and
an
over-folded
packet
of
MS.
leapt
out
.
“
It
's
his
writing
!
”
cried
the
girl
,
with
pain
and
awe
in
her
excitement
.
She
had
dropped
the
document
at
once
.
“
It
's
in
English
,
”
said
Pocket
,
picking
it
up
.
“
It
must
be
what
he
was
writing
all
last
night
!
”
“
It
is
.
”
“
You
see
what
it
is
!
”
urged
Phillida
,
feebly
.
But
she
watched
him
closely
as
he
read
to
himself
:
—
“
June
20
,
190-
.
”
“
It
is
a
grim
coincidence
that
I
should
sit
down
to
reveal
the
secret
of
my
latter
days
on
what
is
supposed
to
be
the
shortest
night
of
the
year
;
for
they
must
come
to
an
end
at
sunrise
,
viz.
,
at
3.44
according
to
the
almanac
,
and
it
is
already
after
10
p.m.
Even
if
I
sit
at
my
task
till
four
I
shall
have
less
than
six
hours
in
which
to
do
justice
to
the
great
ambition
and
the
crowning
folly
of
my
life
.
I
used
the
underlined
word
advisedly
;
some
would
substitute
“
monomania
,
”
but
I
protest
I
am
as
sane
as
they
are
,
fail
as
I
may
to
demonstrate
that
fact
among
so
many
others
to
be
dealt
with
in
the
very
limited
time
at
my
disposal
.
Had
I
more
time
,
or
the
pen
of
a
readier
writer
,
I
should
feel
surer
of
vindicating
my
head
if
not
my
heart
.
But
I
have
been
ever
deliberate
in
all
things
(
excepting
,
certainly
,
the
supreme
folly
already
mentioned
)
,
and
I
would
be
as
deliberate
over
the
last
words
I
shall
ever
write
,
as
in
my
final
preparations
for
death
—
—
”
.
“
What
is
it
?
”
asked
Phillida
,
for
his
eyes
had
dilated
as
he
read
,
and
he
was
breathing
hard
.
“
He
practically
says
he
was
going
to
commit
suicide
at
daybreak
!
He
's
said
so
once
already
,
but
now
he
says
it
in
so
many
words
!
”
“
Well
,
we
know
he
did
n't
do
it
,
”
said
Phillida
,
as
though
she
found
a
crumb
of
comfort
in
the
thought
.
“
I
'm
not
so
sure
about
that
.
”
“
Go
on
reading
it
aloud
.
I
can
bear
it
if
that
's
the
worst
.
”
“
But
it
is
n't
,
Phillida
.
I
can
see
it
is
n't
!
”
“
Then
let
us
read
it
together
.
I
'd
rather
face
it
with
you
than
afterwards
all
by
myself
.
We
've
seen
each
other
through
so
much
,
surely
we
can
—
surely
—
—
”
Her
words
were
swept
away
in
a
torrent
of
tears
,
and
it
was
with
dim
eyes
but
a
palpitating
heart
that
Pocket
looked
upon
the
forlorn
drab
figure
of
the
slip
of
a
girl
;
for
as
yet
,
despite
her
pretext
to
Mr.
Upton
,
she
had
taken
no
thought
for
her
mourning
,
that
unfailing
distraction
to
the
normally
bereaved
,
but
had
put
on
anything
she
could
find
of
a
neutral
tint
;
and
yet
it
was
just
her
dear
disdain
of
appearance
,
the
intimate
tears
gathering
in
her
great
eyes
,
unchecked
,
and
streaming
down
the
fresh
young
face
,
the
very
shabbiness
of
her
coat
and
skirt
,
that
made
her
what
she
was
in
his
sight
.
Outside
,
the
rain
had
stopped
,
and
Trafalgar
Square
was
drying
in
the
sun
,
that
streamed
in
through
the
open
window
of
the
hotel
sitting-room
,
and
poured
its
warm
blessing
on
the
two
young
heads
bent
as
one
over
the
dreadful
document
.
This
was
the
part
they
read
together
,
now
in
silence
,
now
one
and
now
the
other
whispering
a
few
sentences
aloud
:
—
.
“
What
I
have
called
my
life
's
ambition
demands
but
little
explanation
here
.
I
have
never
made
any
secret
of
it
,
but
,
on
the
contrary
,
I
have
given
full
and
frank
expression
to
my
theories
in
places
where
they
are
still
accessible
to
the
curious
.
I
refer
to
my
signed
articles
on
spirit
photography
in
Light
Human
Nature
,
The
Occult
Review
and
other
periodicals
,
but
particularly
to
the
paper
entitled
“
The
Flight
of
the
Soul
,
”
in
The
Nineteenth
Century
and
After
for
January
of
last
year
.
The
latter
article
contains
my
last
published
word
on
the
matter
which
has
so
long
engrossed
my
mind
.
It
took
me
some
months
to
prepare
and
to
write
,
and
its
reception
did
much
to
drive
me
to
the
extreme
measures
I
have
since
employed
.
Treated
to
a
modicum
of
serious
criticism
by
the
scientific
press
,
but
more
generally
received
with
ignorant
and
intolerant
derision
,
which
is
the
Englishman
's
attitude
towards
whatsoever
is
without
his
own
contracted
ken
,
my
article
,
the
work
of
months
,
was
dismissed
and
forgotten
in
a
few
days
.
I
had
essayed
the
stupendous
feat
of
awaking
the
British
nation
to
a
new
idea
,
and
the
British
nation
had
responded
with
a
characteristic
snore
of
unfathomable
indifference
.
My
name
has
not
appeared
in
its
vermin
press
from
that
day
to
this
;
it
was
not
mentioned
in
the
paragraph
about
the
psychic
photographer
which
went
the
rounds
about
a
year
ago
.
Yet
I
was
that
photographer
.
I
am
the
serious
and
accredited
inquirer
to
whom
the
London
hospitals
refused
admittance
to
their
pauper
deathbeds
,
thronged
though
those
notoriously
are
by
the
raw
material
of
the
British
medical
profession
.
Begin
at
the
bottom
of
the
British
medical
ladder
,
and
you
are
afforded
the
earliest
and
most
frequent
opportunities
of
studying
(
if
not
accelerating
)
the
phenomena
of
human
dissolution
;
but
against
the
foreign
scientist
the
door
is
closed
,
without
reference
either
to
the
quality
of
his
credentials
or
the
purity
of
his
aims
.
I
can
conceive
no
purer
and
no
loftier
aim
than
mine
.
It
is
as
high
above
that
of
your
ordinary
physician
as
heaven
itself
is
high
above
this
earth
.
Your
physician
wrestles
with
death
to
lengthen
life
,
whereas
I
would
sacrifice
a
million
lives
to
prove
that
there
is
no
such
thing
as
death
;
that
this
human
life
of
ours
,
by
which
we
set
such
childish
store
,
is
but
a
fleeting
phase
of
the
permanent
life
of
the
spirit
.
One
shrinks
from
setting
down
so
trite
a
truism
;
it
is
the
common
ground
of
all
religion
,
but
I
have
reached
it
from
the
opposite
pole
.
Religion
is
to
me
the
unworthy
triumph
of
instinct
over
knowledge
,
a
lazy
substitution
of
invention
for
discovery
.
Religion
invites
us
to
take
her
postulates
on
trust
;
but
a
material
age
is
deserving
of
material
proofs
,
and
it
is
these
proofs
I
have
striven
to
supply
.
Surely
it
is
a
higher
aim
,
and
not
a
lower
,
to
appeal
to
the
senses
that
cannot
deceive
,
rather
than
to
the
imagination
which
must
and
does
?
But
I
am
trenching
after
all
upon
ground
which
I
myself
have
covered
before
to-day
;
it
is
my
function
to-night
to
relate
a
personal
narrative
rather
than
to
reiterate
personal
views
.
Suffice
it
that
to
me
,
for
many
years
,
the
only
path
to
the
Invisible
has
been
the
path
of
so-called
spiritualism
;
the
only
lamp
that
illumined
that
path
,
so
that
all
who
saw
might
follow
it
for
themselves
,
the
lamp
of
spirit
photography
.
It
is
a
path
with
a
bad
name
,
a
path
infested
with
quacks
and
charlatans
,
and
by
false
guides
who
rival
the
religious
fanatics
in
the
impudence
of
their
appeal
to
man
's
credulity
.
Even
those
who
bear
the
lamp
I
hold
aloft
are
too
often
jugglers
and
rogues
,
to
whose
wiles
,
unfortunately
,
the
simple
science
of
photography
lends
itself
all
too
readily
.
Nothing
is
easier
than
the
production
of
impossible
pictures
by
a
little
manipulation
of
film
or
plate
;
if
the
spiritual
apparition
is
not
to
be
enticed
within
range
of
the
lens
,
nothing
easier
than
to
fabricate
an
approximate
effect
.
And
what
spiritualist
has
yet
succeeded
in
summoning
spirits
at
will
?
It
is
the
crux
of
the
whole
problem
of
spiritualism
,
to
establish
any
sort
or
form
of
communication
with
disembodied
spirits
at
the
single
will
of
the
embodied
;
hence
the
periodical
exposure
of
the
paid
medium
,
the
smug
scorn
of
the
unbeliever
,
and
the
discouragement
of
genuine
exploration
beyond
the
environment
of
the
flesh
.
There
is
one
moment
,
and
only
one
,
at
which
a
man
may
be
sure
that
he
stands
,
for
however
brief
a
particle
of
time
,
in
the
presence
of
a
disembodied
soul
.
It
is
the
moment
at
which
soul
and
body
part
company
in
what
men
call
death
.
The
human
watcher
sees
merely
the
collapse
of
the
human
envelope
;
but
many
a
phenomenon
invisible
to
the
human
eye
has
been
detected
and
depicted
by
that
of
the
camera
,
as
everybody
knows
who
has
the
slightest
acquaintance
with
the
branch
of
physics
known
as
“
fluorescence
.
”
The
invisible
spirit
of
man
surely
falls
within
this
category
.
To
the
crystal
eye
of
science
it
is
not
so
much
invisible
as
elusive
and
intractable
.
Once
it
has
fled
this
earth
,
the
sovereign
opportunity
is
gone
;
but
photography
may
often
intercept
the
actual
flight
of
the
soul
.
”
“
I
say
no
more
than
“
often
”
because
there
are
special
difficulties
into
which
I
need
not
enter
here
;
but
they
would
disappear
,
or
at
least
be
minimised
,
if
the
practice
received
the
encouragement
it
deserves
,
instead
of
the
forbidding
ban
of
a
sentimental
generation
.
It
would
hurt
nobody
;
it
would
comfort
and
convince
the
millions
who
at
present
have
only
their
Churches
'
word
for
the
existence
of
an
eternal
soul
in
their
perishable
bodies
.
It
would
prove
more
,
in
the
course
of
a
few
experiments
,
than
all
the
Churches
have
proved
between
them
in
nineteen
centuries
.
Yet
how
are
my
earnest
applications
received
,
in
hospitals
where
men
die
daily
,
in
prisons
where
they
are
still
occasionally
put
to
death
?
I
am
refused
,
rebuffed
,
gratuitously
reprimanded
;
in
fact
,
I
am
driven
ultimately
to
the
extreme
course
of
taking
human
life
,
on
my
own
account
,
in
order
to
prove
the
life
eternal
.
Call
it
murder
,
call
it
what
you
will
;
in
a
civilisation
which
will
not
hear
of
a
lethal
chamber
for
congenital
imbeciles
it
would
be
waste
of
time
to
urge
the
inutility
of
a
life
as
an
excuse
for
taking
it
,
or
the
misery
of
an
individual
as
a
reason
for
sending
him
to
a
world
which
cannot
use
him
worse
than
this
world
.
I
can
only
say
that
I
have
not
deprived
the
State
of
one
conceivably
profitable
servant
,
or
cut
short
a
single
life
of
promise
or
repute
.
I
have
picked
my
few
victims
with
infinite
care
from
amid
the
moral
or
material
wreckage
of
life
;
either
they
had
nothing
to
live
for
,
or
they
had
no
right
to
live
.
Charlton
,
the
licensed
messenger
,
had
less
to
live
for
than
any
man
I
ever
knew
;
in
the
course
of
our
brief
acquaintance
he
frequently
told
me
how
he
wished
he
was
dead
.
I
came
across
him
in
Kensington
,
outside
a
house
to
which
an
unseemly
fracas
had
attracted
my
attention
as
I
passed
.
Charlton
had
just
been
ejected
for
being
drunk
and
insolent
,
and
refusing
to
leave
without
an
extra
sixpence
.
I
befriended
him
.
He
was
indeed
saturated
with
alcohol
and
honeycombed
with
disease
;
repulsive
in
appearance
,
and
cantankerous
in
character
,
his
earnings
were
so
slender
that
he
was
pitifully
clad
,
and
without
a
night
's
lodging
oftener
than
not
.
He
had
not
a
friend
in
the
world
,
and
was
suffering
from
an
incurable
malady
of
which
the
end
was
certain
agony
.
I
resolved
to
put
him
out
of
his
misery
,
and
at
the
same
time
to
try
to
photograph
the
escape
of
his
soul
.
A
favourable
opportunity
did
not
present
itself
for
some
time
,
during
which
Charlton
subsisted
largely
on
my
bounty
;
at
last
one
morning
I
found
him
asleep
on
a
bench
in
Holland
Walk
,
and
not
another
being
in
sight
,
and
I
shot
him
with
a
cheap
pistol
which
I
had
purchased
second-hand
for
the
purpose
,
and
which
I
left
beside
him
on
the
seat
.
Yet
the
weapon
it
was
that
cast
a
doubt
upon
the
authenticity
of
the
suicide
,
despite
my
final
precaution
of
stuffing
a
number
of
cartridges
into
the
dead
man
's
pocket
;
pot-house
associates
came
forward
to
declare
that
he
could
never
have
possessed
either
the
revolver
or
its
price
without
their
knowledge
.
Hence
the
coroner
's
repudiation
of
the
verdict
at
the
inquest
.
Yet
it
is
to
be
feared
that
the
fate
of
such
as
poor
Charlton
excites
but
little
public
interest
in
its
explanation
,
and
that
the
police
themselves
never
took
more
than
an
academic
interest
in
the
case
.
”
“
To
me
it
was
a
bitter
disappointment
on
other
grounds
.
I
had
lost
very
few
seconds
between
pulling
the
revolver
trigger
and
pressing
the
bulb
of
my
pneumatic
shutter
;
but
one
had
to
get
back
into
position
for
this
,
and
the
fact
remains
that
I
was
too
late
.
The
result
may
be
found
among
my
negatives
.
It
is
dreadfully
good
of
the
dead
man
,
if
not
a
unique
photograph
of
actual
death
;
but
it
lacks
the
least
trace
of
the
super-normal
.
The
flight
of
the
soul
had
been
too
quick
for
me
;
it
would
be
too
quick
again
unless
I
hit
upon
some
new
method
.
I
had
not
only
failed
to
leave
convincing
evidence
of
suicide
,
but
the
fatal
pause
between
pistol-shot
and
snap-shot
was
due
entirely
to
my
elaborate
attempt
in
that
direction
.
It
was
not
worth
making
again
.
The
next
case
should
be
a
more
honest
breach
of
the
Sixth
Commandment
;
the
shot
to
be
fired
,
and
the
photograph
taken
,
at
the
same
range
and
all
but
at
the
same
instant
.
There
would
be
no
further
point
in
leaving
the
weapon
behind
,
so
I
was
free
to
choose
the
one
best
suited
to
my
purpose
,
and
to
adapt
it
at
my
leisure
to
my
peculiar
needs
.
Eventually
I
evolved
the
ingenious
engine
which
,
no
doubt
,
has
already
explained
itself
better
than
I
could
possibly
explain
it
;
if
not
,
the
discoverer
of
the
camera
need
not
hesitate
to
experiment
with
the
pistol
,
as
it
will
not
be
loaded
when
found
.
”
There
was
a
brief
discussion
here
.
The
children
could
not
understand
about
the
pistol
;
but
only
one
of
them
cared
what
had
become
of
it
.
For
Phillida
it
was
enough
to
know
that
the
writer
of
this
shameless
rigmarole
,
with
its
pompous
periods
and
its
callous
gusto
,
must
long
ago
have
lost
his
reason
.
She
had
no
doubt
whatever
about
that
,
and
already
it
had
brought
a
new
light
into
her
eyes
.
She
would
pause
to
discuss
nothing
else
.
It
was
her
finger
that
pointed
the
way
through
the
next
passages
.
“
The
perfection
or
completion
of
my
device
was
the
secret
work
of
many
weeks
;
it
brings
me
down
almost
to
the
other
day
,
and
to
what
I
have
described
as
the
supreme
folly
of
my
life
.
I
had
everything
in
readiness
for
another
attempt
to
liberate
and
photograph
a
human
soul
in
consecutive
fractions
of
a
second
.
But
the
right
man
was
never
in
the
right
place
at
the
right
time
;
one
saw
him
by
the
dozen
in
a
crowd
,
but
the
people
one
met
all
by
themselves
,
in
the
early
summer
mornings
,
stayed
one
's
hand
repeatedly
by
the
eager
brightness
of
their
eyes
or
a
happy
elasticity
of
step
.
Once
an
out-patient
at
the
Brompton
Hospital
,
whom
I
had
dogged
all
the
way
down
to
Richmond
Park
,
was
cheated
of
a
merciful
end
by
dusk
falling
just
as
I
had
him
to
myself
.
No
