orget the way in which she swore at me and how she abused me about my
family. I think she must have had some special reason for disliking
Warwickshire, she said such awful hard things about it."

"How did she know that you came from Warwickshire?"

"She did know it. If I tell you something, don't you say anything about
it. I have an idea about her."

"What is it?"

"I didn't mention it before, because I don't talk much of those sort of
things. I don't pretend to understand them, and it is better to leave
them alone."

"But what do you mean?"

Doodles looked very solemn as he answered, "I think she's a medium--or a
media, or whatever it ought to be called."

"What! one of those spirit-rapping people?" And Archie's hair almost
stood on end as he asked the question.

"They don't rap now--not the best of them, that is. That was the old
way, and seems to have been given up."

"But what do you suppose she did?"

"How did she know that the money was in your waistcoat pocket, now? How
did she know that I came from Warwickshire? And then she had a way of
going about the room as though she could have raised herself off her
feet in a moment if she had chosen. And then her swearing, and the rest
of it--so unlike any other woman, you know."

"But do you think she could have made Julia hate me?"

"Ah! I can't tell that. There are such lots of things going on
now-a-days that a fellow can understand nothing about! But I've no doubt
of this--if you were to tie her up with ropes ever so, I don't in the
least doubt but what she'd get out." Archie was awe-struck, and made two
or three strokes after this but then he plucked up his courage and asked
a question--"Where do you suppose they get it from, Doodles?"

"That's just the question."

"Is it from--the devil, do you think?" said Archie, whispering the name
of the Evil One in a very low voice.

"Well, yes, I suppose that's most likely."

"Because they don't seem to do a great deal of harm with it, after all.
As for my money, she would have had that any way, for I intended to give
it to her."

"There are people who think," said Doodles, "that the spirits don't come
from anywhere, but are always floating about."

"And then one person catches them, and another doesn't?" asked Archie.

"They tell me that it depends upon what the mediums or medias eat and
drink," said Doodles, "and upon what sort of minds they have. They must
be cleverish people, I fancy, or the spirits