Hallowell
tonight."
"And I am sure, Mr. Hallowell," cried the old lady, "if any one
can do it, little Miss Vera can. Hers is a wonderful gift, sir,
a wonderful gift!"
"I am glad to hear you say so," returned Hallowell.
He nodded to her in dismissal, and turned to the next visitor.
"And this gentleman?" he asked.
"Professor Strombergk," announced Vance, "the distinguished
writer on psychic and occult subjects, editor of The World
Beyond."
A tall, full-bearded German, in a too-short frock coat, bowed
awkwardly. Upon him, as upon Mannie, had fallen the spell of the
Hallowell fortune. He, who chatted familiarly with departed
popes and emperors, who daily was in communication with Goethe,
Caesar, and Epictetus, thrilled with embarrassment before the
man who had made millions from a coupling pin.
"And Helen!" Mr. Hallowell cried, as Miss Coates followed the
Professor. "That is all, is it not?" he asked.
Miss Coates moved aside to disclose the person of the reporter
from the Republic, Homer Lee.
"I have taken you at your word, uncle," she said., "and have
brought a friend with me." In some trepidation she added; "He is
Mr. Lee, a reporter from the Republic."
"A reporter!" exclaimed Mr. Hallowell. Disturbed and yet amused
at the audacity of his niece, he shook his head reprovingly. "I
don't think I meant reporters," he remonstrated.
"You said in your note," returned his niece, "that as I had so
much at stake, I could bring any one I pleased, and the less he
believed in spiritualism, the better.
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