wished; it would simply have seemed part of the illusion which he knew
perfectly well we were endeavoring to create. The problem was to
suddenly startle him by a real communication from V. S., and, above
all, to have it of such a nature as to convince him that the cloud
between them had finally lifted. Now, without trust and confidence,
true love is impossible. The message of the sprig of heliotrope told
him all that he had been hungering and longing to hear throughout these
terrible two months; the shock was sufficient to drive the normal
consciousness from its seat and permit the subliminal self to take
control. In other words, it practically put him back in the identical
mental mood of the afternoon of January 9th, and that was the crucial
point of the whole experiment. Anything more?"

"Who sent the false telegrams?"

"Of course, you would ask that. I don't know."

"Such a monstrous wickedness! It is inconceivable."

"Yes, unless we admit the existence of a spirit of pure malevolence
seeking to drive an innocent man to self-destruction for no other
motive than that of doing evil for evil's sake. That such an
intelligence has been active in this case is certain; or how explain
the cheat of the letter-box, a necessary factor in the problem, as you
will admit?"

"But you don't know."

"Not yet," answered my friend Indiman.

We dined down-town that evening, and it was about nine o'clock when we
called a hackney-coach and started homeward. As we drove on up the
Bowery an illuminated transparency caught our eyes.

"'Fair and Bazaar,'" read Indiman. "'Benefit of the United
House-smiths' Benevolent Association.' What is a house-smith, Thorp?
Evidently we will have to go and find out for ourselves." He pulled the
check-cord and gave the driver the new direction. Pure foolishness, of
course, but Indiman was not to be put out of his humor.

Up one flight of stairs to a large, low-ceilinged hall that was jammed
to suffocation. A score of gayly trimmed booths wherein were displayed
various articles of feminine fallals and cheap bric-a-brac, each
presided over by a lady house-smith. "Or should it be house-smithess?"
asked Indiman. "Hullo! What's this?"

Behind a long counter covered with red-paper muslin sat a dozen young
women of more or less pronounced personal charms, and a huge placard
announced that, kisses were on sale at the uniform price of fifty
cents. "Take your own choice." Smaller cards bore the various c