" Sorry !sx " he said suddenly .sx His hands grabbed her and she gave a scream of terror .sx Instantly the trumpet dropped with a clatter to the table .sx She was struggling in his hands , squirming like a slippery eel .sx " What on earth !sx " exclaimed Mallard .sx Emery Jago's voice rang out harshly .sx " This is abominable !sx Turn up the light someone .sx " It was Wilfred Neal who switched on the electric light , and every one was dazzled and blinking .sx Boyd still held Belle Chubb by one arm .sx " Sorry , " he said again .sx " I began to get suspicious .sx This young lady " .sx He was feeling her about her thin flat chest and then passed his hand across her lap .sx " Oh !sx " she cried .sx " You made me jump out of my skin almost .sx .. It isn't fair .sx " " I must protest , " shouted Emery angrily .sx " I thought I'd come to a gentleman's house .sx " His eyes blazed with a sudden rage out of a dead-white face .sx Then he spoke to the girl he called his sister .sx " Are you all right , Belle ?sx " .sx " It's quite all right , Em , " she answered , and the suspicious Boyd noticed that she said , " It's quite all right , " and not " I am quite all right .sx " At this assurance Jago became less angry and turned round to Mallard with a remonstrance against Professor Boyd's behaviour .sx " It doesn't give the spirits a chance , " he said .sx " It's hardly fair or decent , sir , as I think you will agree .sx How can you expect to talk to your brother when the whole thing is jangled by hostile interruptions ?sx I'm ready to submit to every kind of test but not to sheer brutality like this .sx " " I think you went too far , Boyd , " said Mallard .sx " Honestly , I can't think what you were trying to do .sx " Boyd apologized with a nervous laugh .sx " Frightfully sorry , everyone !sx But certain breathing exercises on the part of Miss Jago rather aroused my suspicious nature .sx Also the way she was sitting forward and something she seemed to have in her mouth .sx Probably I was mistaken .sx In the darkness one can't becertain of anything and one's nerves begin to work .sx That's why this sort of thing never results in good evidence .sx " He stooped to pick up his notes and crumpled them into his breast pocket .sx It was Rose Jaffrey who gave a sudden cry of astonishment .sx She was standing close to the table where the trumpet lay , and seemed to be staring at something which was next to the trumpet , as though she could not believe the evidence of her eyes .sx " What ?sx " asked Mallard anxiously .sx " What , Rose ?sx " .sx Then he too murmured a word of surprise .sx " Anything startling ?sx " asked Boyd , going toward them while young Neal strolled up and raised his eyebrows .sx " That's strange !sx " said Emery Jago .sx " Has anybody seen this thing before ?sx " .sx Standing on the table there by the side of the tin trumpet was the figure of an Egyptian god , with a tall headdress and pointed beard .sx It was a bronze green with age and much dented on a wooden pedestal .sx " Osiris !sx " said young Neal , who had been to Egypt for a winter in Cairo .sx He took the figure up and examined it curiously , and then glanced at Mallard with a smile of incredulity .sx " Probably a fake , " he said .sx " They make these things by the thousand for American tourists and others .sx " " It looks real to me , " said Mr. Jaffrey .sx " They don't fake the hand of time like this .sx Look how green it is !sx The point is , how did it come on to that table , gentlemen ?sx " .sx " It was certainly not in this house before , " said Mallard .sx His hand shook as he took the figure from Mr. Jaffrey .sx " What's your explanation , Mr. Jago ?sx " asked Rose .sx Emery shrugged his shoulders slightly and smiled at her .sx " I have no doubt myself , Miss Jaffrey , " he said quietly .sx " It's what we call an ' apport .sx ' Young Ivo has conveyed it from Egypt to this room .sx That's my theory .sx I may be wrong .sx " He turned to Mallard and questioned him politely .sx " Didn't the voice say something about the Mediterranean , and the Egyptian desert ?sx " .sx " Yes , " said Mallard .sx " He mentioned some lady's name , " said Emery Jago .sx " What was it , Belle ?sx Did you catch it ?sx " .sx " Evelyn , " said Belle in a low voice .sx " That's what I heard , Em .sx " Mallard did not tell him that Evelyn was the name of his wife and that she was cruising on the Mediterranean with Freddy Duke , whose name had also been mentioned .sx He was asking himself if there was any possible way in which this medium could have heard of his wife's voyage with that good-looking blackguard .sx He could think of no way unless Boyd had told him , or Rose .sx Who else knew in this neighbourhood or in London ?sx His man , Sadler , perhaps .sx Sadler knew everything , overhearing telephone conversations , reading letters , perhaps , which Mallard left carelessly about .sx But Sadler could not have talked much with this fellow Jago , who was down at the cottage , and in any case would not chatter to a stranger about his master's business .sx He heard Boyd speaking .sx " You might have had it concealed about you , Jago .sx You must admit that .sx " " You searched me , Mr. Boyd , " replied Jago calmly , as though utterly indifferent to this suspicion .sx " Not properly , " said Boyd .sx " I'm entirely unconvinced .sx Your sister may have had it under her frock .sx We're not children , you know .sx " " Perhaps if you were more childlike , " said Emery Jago gravely , " you might learn more of the spirit world .sx " He turned to Rose Jaffrey .sx " What do you think ?sx " he asked .sx " Are you so sceptical ?sx " .sx She looked into his eyes .sx " I don't know what to think , " she said in a troubled way .sx " It makes me feel frightened .sx " He smiled at her .sx " It's comforting , really , when one looks at it in the right way .sx I should say you had the psychic gift , Miss .sx Jaffrey .sx I wouldn't be surprised if you could get into touch with the other side quite easily .sx " " Oh , I don't want to , " she said quickly , and turned away from him and went over to Mallard , as though she had no need of the other side while he was near her .sx " Gentlemen , " announced Mr. Jaffrey in a solemn voice .sx " I for one am utterly convinced that we have been privileged to get a glimpse through the great gate .sx " Our doubts are traitors , .sx And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt .sx " " Let us not be afraid of attempting to cross that narrow bridge between Time and Eternity .sx " He spoke for some time with Jago and invited him to hold his next seance in the old house at the end of the lane .sx " Don't you approve , Mallard ?sx " he asked .sx " What better atmosphere than my old house for spiritual communications ?sx It vibrates with the spirits of the past .sx " " Haunted ?sx " asked Jago curiously .sx " Beyond a doubt , " said Mr. Jaffrey .sx Emery Jago was thoughtful .sx " I might try a few spirit photographs , " he suggested .sx " At the worst I should only waste a few plates .sx " That night , when Rose and Jaffrey had gone and the brother and sister had been taken back to the cottage by young Neal , Mallard came into Boyd's room again .sx " Boyd , " he said , " tell me .sx How did that fellow know about Evelyn and Freddy Duke and that Mediterranean cruise ?sx " .sx Boyd who was smoking his last pipe laughed .sx " The voice called him ` Dook .sx ' .sx .. And that .sx gardener's wife Mrs. Lymposs doesn't she gossip a .sx good deal , old man ?sx " .sx Mallard was rather disturbed by that suggestion .sx " She certainly chatters .sx I never thought of that .sx But she doesn't know about Evelyn .sx " " These things leak out , " said Boyd .sx " Mrs. Smith's butler tells Mrs. Jones's maid .sx It's the freemasonry of the servants' hall .sx " Mallard shook his head .sx " There's more in it than that .sx I recognized Ivo's voice .sx I could swear to it .sx " " I wouldn't if I were you , " said Boyd .sx " Auto-suggestion beats everything .sx You can't trust your own senses .sx I could have sworn I saw something sticking out of that girl's mouth when the voice was speaking .sx I'm not at all sure I didn't .sx But it's quite possible I was wrong .sx She had nothing in her hands when the light came up .sx " " Can we be sure of anything ?sx " asked Mallard .sx He went to the window and stood there looking into the garden , white under the moonlight .sx Boyd heard him give a heavy sigh before presently he turned and left the room with a quiet word or two .sx " Good night , old sceptic .sx Sleep " XII .sx ON the afternoon of the next day , Belle Chubb , as she had been in the old days Belle Jago as she now called herself went round to have tea alone with Rose at the old house , and took her crystal with her .sx Emery had arranged to come on later to see what he could do in the way of spirit photographs before the second seance ; he was spending his day with Professor Boyd who was making some tests in thought-transference rather startling , as he confessed to Mallard that day at lunch .sx There was no doubt , he thought , that Jago possessed something that might be called supernormal sensibility .sx At least he had succeeded in reproducing certain drawings of elementary objects such as a circle with a triangle on top , a flag with a cross , a five-pointed star , and most difficult of all , the profile of a man's face which Boyd had drawn in the library , concealed behind a screen and he had then sealed them in envelopes before Jago had touched them with the tips of his fingers .sx He had made several mistakes .sx For instance , he had drawn the flag the wrong way round , and he had put the triangle underneath instead of on top of the circle , and his reproduction of the man's face had omitted the eye .sx But those slight errors did not take away from the inevitable conviction that he had some kind of mental vision or some sensibility to images in Boyd's mind , which was outside the range of normal experience .sx Well , it had been an interesting morning for Boyd , and he was rather taken with that fellow Jago , although not at all convinced that he was not a tricky customer , mixing up fraud with certain gifts of supersensibility .sx " By the by , Mallard , " said Boyd , " he was rather .sx interested in that portrait of Ivo over the library fireplace .sx Kept staring at it , as though it fascinated him .sx " " Why not ?sx " asked Mallard .sx " If Ivo was really speaking through that trumpet " .sx He caught a glance from young Neal and flushed slightly .sx The boy was smiling with ironical disbelief .sx " Not that I'm convinced , " said Mallard , flinching a little under that scepticism of youth .sx " Absolute bunk , sir !sx " said young Neal .sx " As for that Egyptian god old Osiris I'm convinced the fellow bought it off some dealer in fake antiques .sx " Mallard was rather nettled .sx " Your convictions , Billy , seem to me based on prejudice rather than evidence .sx We're not all Catholics , .sx you know .sx " " Sorry , sir , " said young Neal .sx There was rather a painful silence broken by a good-humoured laugh from Mallard .sx " This kind of thing mustn't get on our nerves , And I withdraw that remark about Catholics , young fellow .sx I wish to Heaven " .sx He broke off from that line of thought abruptly and .sx changed the subject .sx " What about some tennis this afternoon , Billy ?sx " .sx " Oh , splendid !sx " said the boy .sx " I'm pining for a .sx game .sx " " Good !sx I'll meet you on the court at three o'clock .sx " Boyd raised his eyebrows , and looked alarmed .sx " If I were you , old man " .sx Mallard smiled at him in a challenging way , like a schoolboy who has made up his mind to play truant .sx " I'm feeling as fit as a fiddle .sx This lazy life down here has made a new man of me .sx " Boyd waited till after lunch , when Billy went off to change , before making another protest .sx " That game of tennis !sx " he said .sx " It's madness , old man .sx You mustn't do it .sx " " Oh , I shall go easy , " said Mallard .sx " There's no risk .sx " " It's a hellish risk , " said Boyd angrily .sx " Don't be a damn fool , Mallard .sx " Mallard laughed with the old light in his eyes .sx