certain
circumstances, assume an appearance of extreme guilt.

By Saturday the condition of affairs between my wife and myself remained
in statu quo, and I had decided on a bold step. This was to call a
special meeting of the Neighborhood Club, without Miss Jeremy, and
put before them the situation as it stood at that time, with a view to
formulating a future course of action, and also of publicly vindicating
myself before my wife.

In deference to Herbert Robinson's recent attack of influenza, we met
at the Robinson house. Sperry himself wheeled Mrs. Dane over, and made a
speech.

"We have called this meeting," he said, "because a rather singular
situation has developed. What was commenced purely as an interesting
experiment has gone beyond that stage. We find ourselves in the curious
position of taking what comes very close to being a part in a domestic
tragedy. The affair is made more delicate by the fact that this tragedy
involves people who, if not our friends, at least are very well known
to us. The purpose of this meeting, to be brief, is to determine
whether the Neighborhood Club, as a body, wishes to go on with the
investigation, or to stop where we are."

He paused, but, as no one spoke, he went on again. "It is really not
as simple as that," he said. "To stop now, in view of the evidence we
intend to place before the Club, is to leave in all our minds certain
suspicions that may be entirely unjust. On the other hand, to go on is
very possible to place us all in a position where to keep silent is to
be an accessory after a crime."

He then proceeded, in orderly fashion, to review the first sitting and
its results. He read from notes, elaborating them as he went along, for
the benefit of the women, who had not been fully informed. As all the
data of the Club is now in my possession, I copy these notes.

"I shall review briefly the first sitting, and what followed it." He
read the notes of the sitting first. "You will notice that I have made
no comment on the physical phenomena which occurred early in the seance.
This is for two reasons: first, it has no bearing on the question at
issue. Second, it has no quality of novelty. Certain people, under
certain conditions, are able to exert powers that we can not explain.
I have no belief whatever in their spiritistic quality. They are purely
physical, the exercise of powers we have either not yet risen high
enough in our scale of development to recognize genera