ding the ring to Lady De Greene, "give it
to the person you have mentioned to me--and the result you desire will
speedily come to pass."

Three days later, London was immeasurably shocked. It read in the
papers that the highly accomplished Lady De Greene, beloved and
respected by all, for the strenuous exertions on behalf of
humanitarianism, had been barbarously murdered by her husband (from
whom--unknown to the public--she had been living apart for years), who
had suddenly, and, for no apparent reason, become insane. Hamar, who
was immensely tickled, alone knew the reason why.

This was no isolated case. Scores of Society women came to the trio
with the same request. "A spell, or charm, or something, that will
bring about a fatal accident--not a lingering illness"--and the person
for whom the accident was desired, was usually the husband. And the
trio often indulged in grim jokes.

Without a doubt, Lady Minkhurst got her heart's desire when her
husband abruptly cut his throat, but alas, amongst those decimated,
when the charm fell into the hands of one of the footmen, was her
ladyship's lover.

Again, Mrs. Jacques, the beauty, who, at one time, wrote for half the
fashion papers in England, certainly secured the demise of Colonel
Dick Jacques, who tumbled downstairs and broke his neck, but as in his
fall the Colonel alighted on one of the maids, who was not insured,
and so seriously injured her that she was pronounced a hopeless
cripple, Mrs. Jacques--with whom money was an object--had, of course,
to maintain her for the rest of her life.

Likewise, Sir Charles Brimpton, in jumping out of the top window of
his house, besides pulverizing himself, pulverized, too, Lady
Brimpton's pet Pekingese "Waller," without whom, she declared, life
wasn't worth living; and Lord Snipping, in setting fire to himself,
set fire to Lady Snipping's boudoir (which he had been secretly
visiting), and thereby destroyed treasures which she tearfully
declared were quite priceless, and could never be replaced.

Crowds of young married women were anxious to get rid of their rich
old relatives, who clung on to life with a tenacity that was "most
wearying."

"Can you give me a spell that will make my grandmother go off
suddenly?" a girl with beautiful, sad eyes said plaintively to Kelson.
"Don't think me very wicked, but we are not at all well off--and she
has lived such a long time--such a very long time."

"You don't want her to be ill