t which
fascinates me intensely. I know very little about it; I'm not at all
sure that it is good to know more; but--it beckons. Tell me, have you
seen anything, had any extraordinary experiences? Are the stories true,
for instance, that one hears of these native jugglers?"

"Snake-charming, you mean, the boy in the basket, the mango trick? Oh,
yes. I've seen them often, on the deck of a ship, as well as on the
open plain. People say it is hypnotism, that the fellow doesn't really
do it, only makes you _think_ he does; but that's rubbish. It's
sleight-of-hand, uncommonly clever, of course, but pure and simple
conjuring. The mango is chosen because he can get dried-up specimens,
several specimens, of different sizes, to which he attaches false roots,
and it is a plant which will quickly expand beneath the water with which
he deluges the ground. All that sort of tricks can be explained, but
there are other things more mysterious: the transmission of news from
station to station, so that it is known in the bazaars before the post
can bring the letters, the power of reading others' minds, of seeing
into the future."

"But you don't believe, you can't seriously believe that that is
possible?"

Robert Gloucester bent forward, his elbows crossed on his knees, his
brown, extraordinarily clear eyes fixed on her face.

"Why not? How shall one dare to put a limit to what is possible even in
material things? Look at this new electricity, for instance. One
cannot imagine all that it may mean in improved facilities for the
world. Its power seems immense--illimitable. If we live to grow old,
Miss Strangeways, we shall see things as everyday occurrences which
would seem fairy-tale impossibilities to-day. The most conservative man
would hardly deny that; then why should he be presumptuous enough to
suppose that in the spiritual plane we have reached the limits of our
powers? It is unthinkable. There are forces--binding forces, electric
forces--hidden away in the most commonplace human soul, only awaiting
development, powers which may revolutionise our lives, even as this new
electricity will revolutionise the world."

Vanna stared out into the night with rapt, unseeing eyes. Life, which a
few minutes ago had seemed so dreary in the flat barrenness of outlook,
became suddenly illumined with interest. She felt the stirrings within
of new life, new powers, and reached out eagerly to meet them.

"You have had exper