On meeting a child
    hold the fork with the V downwards in front of its face, and if
    the child exhibits violence and signs of terror, and falls down,
    the experiment is successful. "No. 6. Take a couple of handfuls of fine soil from over the spot
    where some four-footed animal has recently been buried. Put it in
    a tin vessel, mix with it three ounces of assafoetida and one
    drachm of quassia chips, to which add a death's-head moth
    (_Acherontia atropos_). Heat the vessel over a wood fire for three
    hours. Then remove it and place it on the hearth, rake out the
    fire and make the room absolutely dark. Keep watch beside the
    vessel, and if, at the second hour after midnight, any strange
    phenomena occur, the test will be known to have been
    satisfactorily executed. "(_Addendum_) If any of these tests fail the candidate must wait
    for six months before giving them a further trial, and he must
    occupy the interim by training his thoughts in the manner already
    prescribed. But if, on the other hand, the tests have been
    successfully performed, he can proceed with the rites appertaining
    to the Black Art." Hamar had read so far when, with a gesture of impatience, he closed
the book. "What a fool I am!" he exclaimed, "to waste my time with
such stuff!... But Maitland writes in such a devilish convincing way! Jerusalem! Any straw is good enough for the drowning man, and if
witchcraft and sorcery with motors dashing by every second and the
whole air alive with wireless and telephones, is a bit beyond my
comprehension, what then? All I care about is money--and I'll leave no
stone unturned to get it. If it were possible for man to get in touch
with Daramara--the Unknown--Devil, or whatever else it chooses to call
itself--I'll call it an angel if it only gives me money--twenty
thousand years ago--why shouldn't it be possible to get in touch with
it now? Anyhow as I said before, I'll have a try. As far as the
preliminary stage is concerned, I fancy I'm pretty well fixed. My mind
is occupied right enough with things of this world--I don't give a
cent for anything belonging to another--and if only I had half a dozen
souls, I'd sell them right away now, for less than twenty thousand
dollars--a damned sight less. As for these tests--foolish isn't the
word for them--but it won't cost much just to try them.... Now,
according to Thomas Maitland, the ceremony of calling up the Unknown
stands a far greater chance of success if there are three human beings
present ... but, of course, if there is any truth in this business,
I'd rather keep the secret of it to myself. However, if I try alone,
the Unknown may not come to me, and then I shall have had all the
trouble of going through the tests for nothing!... Ah! now I see! If
the other two get more of the profits than I think necessary--I can
make use of my newly acquired Occult Power to--to dissolve
partnership! Ha! ha! I could--I could trick the Unknown if it comes to
that. Trust a Jew to outwit the Devil! I'll just look up Kelson
and--Curtis." FOOTNOTES:

  [Footnote 1: The river referred to by Maitland is the river
  Lagartos, which was then (1691) unnamed.] [Footnote 2: For chiche compare the ancient Maya or Yucatan word
  Chicken-Itza (_i.e._ name of town in Yucatan where excavations are
  now taking place--1912).] [Footnote 3: For Menes compare Mayan Menes, wise men.] [Footnote 4: Compare Mayan Chaac-mol, a leopard.] [Footnote 5: Compare Ozil, Mayan for well-beloved.] [Footnote 6: Moo, Mayan for Macaw.] [Footnote 7: Niké, woman's name in Mayan.] [Footnote 8: Recent (1912) discoveries of statues in Easter Island
  still further corroborate the sinking of Atlantis. The Atlantean character [C] resembles the Easter Island [C] (C)
          "         "     [O]     "        "      "       [O] (O)
          "         "     [E]     "        "      "       [E] (E)
          "         "     [Z]     "        "      "       [Z] (Z)

  It will be noticed that all the Atlantean characters are
  distinguished by additional curling strokes.] [Footnote 9: In all probability she was the founder of Chicken-Itza,
  the capital of Yucatan.] [Footnote 10: Types of Elementals still to be met with in certain
  localities (vide _Byeways of Ghostland_, published by Rider & Son).] [Footnote 11: Compare Egyptian ré.] [Footnote 12: Maitland raises the question as to whether Barrahneil
  was the ancestor of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Of this there is
  every possibility, since many Atlanteans undoubtedly escaped to
  Ireland, carrying with them the knowledge of Black Magic--to which
  might be traced the Banshee and other family ghosts.] [Footnote 13: Probably a Vice Elemental.] [Footnote 14: All subsequent works dealing with Black Magic were
  founded on it.] [Footnote 15: Closely allied to deadly nightshade, and known in
  botany as _Circæa_. It is found in damp, shady places and was used
  to a very large extent in mediæval sorcery.] CHAPTER III

LEARNING TO SIN


Messrs. Kelson and Curtis did not live in Pacific Avenue where the
Popes hold sway, nor yet in California Street where the Crockers are
wont to entertain their millionaire friends. Where they lived, there
were no massive granite steps flanked with equally massive
pillars--such as herald the approach to the Nob Hill palaces; no rare
glass bow-windows looking out on to flower bedecked lawns; no vast
betiled hall, with rotundas in the centre; no highly polished oak
staircases; no frescoed ceilings; no tufted, cerulean blue silk
draperies; and no sweet perfumery--only the smell, if one may so
suddenly sink to a third-class expression--only the smell of rank
tobacco and equally rank lager beer. No, Messrs. Kelson and Curtis
resided within a stone's throw of the five cent baths in Rutter
Street--and that was the nearest they ever got to bathing. Their suite
of apartments consisted of one room, about ten by eight feet, which
served as a dining-room, drawing-room, study, boudoir, kitchen,
bedroom, and--from sheer force of habit, I was about to add bathroom;
but as I have already hinted cold water on half-empty stomachs and
chilly livers is uninviting; besides, soap costs something. Their
furniture was antique but not massive; nor could any of it be fairly
reckoned superfluous. All told, it consisted of a bedstead (three
six-foot planks on four sugar cubes; the bedclothes--a pair of
discarded overalls, a torn and much emaciated blanket, a woolly neck
wrap, a yellow vest, and the garments they stood in); a small round
and rather rickety deal table; and one chair. Of the very limited
number of culinary utensils, the frying-pan was by far the most
important. Its handle served as a poker, and its pan, as well as for
frying, roasting and boiling, did duty for a teapot and a slop-basin. They had no crockery.