He had had a stroke which, although fortunately slight,
must, as the doctor said, be regarded as a prelude to what would
happen, unless he was kept very quiet. And to keep him quiet was not
an easy thing to do. His mind continually reverted to what had just
taken place, and he was for ever asking Gladys to tell him whether
anything further had occurred in connection with it, whether there was
anything about it in the papers. Gladys, of course, was obliged to dissemble. She hated anything
approaching dissimulation, but on this occasion there was no help for
it, and what she told John Martin was the reverse of what she knew to
be actually happening. The papers were full to overflowing with
accounts of that fatal night's proceedings, and of the marvellous
gratis exhibition given on the succeeding evening by the Modern
Sorcery Company Ltd. The _Hooter_, for example, had a full column on the middle page headed
in large type--

    EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT MARTIN AND DAVENPORT'S
    THE GREATEST CONJURING TRICKS IN THE WORLD SOLVED! Whilst the _Daily Snapper_, determined to be none the less sensational,
began thus:

    MYSTERIES NO LONGER! "THE BRASS COFFIN TRICK" AND "EVE AT THE WINDOW" DONE AT LAST! MARTIN AND DAVENPORT LOSE THEIR PRESTIGE

This was bad enough, but the _Planet_ published a paragraph that was
even more galling, viz.--

    "Now that Messrs. Martin and Davenport's great Illusions have been
    explained and their Hall in Kingsway, so long famous as the Home
    of Puzzledom, of necessity shorn of its glamour, one need not be
    surprised if those who delight in this kind of mystery, should
    turn elsewhere for their amusement. The British Public, which is
    above all things enamoured of novelty, will, doubtless, now resort
    to the Modern Sorcery Company, whose House in Cockspur Street bids
    fair to become the future home of everything uncanny. Their
    programme--to the uninitiated--presents possibilities--and
    impossibilities." So said the _Planet_, and as the number of attendances at Martin and
Davenports' fell from 820 on the night of the challenge to 89 on the
succeeding night, whilst the Modern Sorcery Company's Hall was filled
to overflowing, there was every prospect of its prediction being
verified. The solution of Martin and Davenports' tricks had taken
place (Hamar had so planned it) on the last night the trio possessed
the property of divination, and, consequently, on the night that
terminated the first stage of their compact. The following night they
would be in possession of new powers, such powers as would warrant
them giving a gratis exhibition--an exhibition of jugglery absolutely
new and unprecedented. That the exhibition was successful may be
gathered from the following article in the _Daily Cyclone_--

    "MARVELLOUS DISPLAY OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA IN COCKSPUR STREET. "The Modern Sorcery Company Ltd., in their new premises in
    Cockspur Street, gave the most remarkable display of Phenomena it
    has ever yet fallen to our lot to report. Indeed, the performances
    were of such an extraordinary nature that the huge audience, _en
    masse_, was scared; not a few people fainted, whilst every now and
    again were heard screams of terror intermingled with long
    protracted 'Ohs!'" A brief _résumé_ of the entertainment ran as follows:--The first part
of the Modern Sorcery Company's programme was carried out by Mr. Leon
Hamar, solus, who, stepping to the front of the stage, announced that
he was about to give a display of clairvoyance. Without further
prelude he pointed to various members of the audience, and described
spiritual presences he saw standing behind them. He did not say he
could see a spirit, answering to the name of James or George--or some
such equally familiar name--and then proceed to give a description of
it, so elastic, that with very little stretching it would undoubtedly
have fitted nine out of every ten people one meets with every day, but
unlike any other clairvoyants we have known, he described the
individual physical and moral traits of the people he professed to
see. For example: To a lady sitting in the third row of the stalls, he
said: "There is the phantasm of an elderly gentleman standing behind
you. He has a vivid scar on his right cheek that looks as if it might
have been caused by a sabre cut. He has a grey military moustache, a
very marked chin; wears his hair parted in the middle, and has
light-blue eyes that are fixed ferociously on the gentleman seated on
your left. Do you recognize the person I am describing?" "I think so," the lady answered in a faint voice. "I will spare you a description of his person," Hamar went on, "but I
should like to remind you that he met with a rather peculiar accident. He was looking over some engineering works in Leeds, when some one
pushed him, and he was instantly whipped off the ground by a piece of
revolving mechanism and dashed to pieces against the ceiling. Am I
right?" There was no reply--but the sigh, we think, was more significant than
words. Mr. Hamar then turned to a lady in the next row. "I can see behind
you," he said, "an old dowager with yellow hair. She wears large
emerald drop earrings, black satin skirt, and a heliotrope bodice of
which she appears to be somewhat vain. She is coughing terribly. She
died of pneumonia, brought about by the excessive zeal of--Ahem!--of
her relatives--for the open-air treatment. Contrary to expectations,
however, all her money went to a Society in Hanover Square--a Society
for the Anti-propagation of Children. I think you know the lady to
whom I refer." Mr. Hamar had again hit the mark. "Only too well!" came the indignant and spontaneous reply. Mr. Hamar then turned to a man in the fifth row. "Hulloa!" he
exclaimed. "What have we here--an Irish terrier answering to the name
of 'Peg.' It is standing upright with its two front paws resting on
your knees. It is looking up into your face, and its mouth is open as
if anticipating a lump of sugar. From the marks on its body I should
say it has been killed by being run over?" Again Mr. Hamar was correct. "What you say is absolutely true," the
gentleman replied; "I had a dog named Peg. I was greatly attached to
it, and it was run over in Piccadilly by a motor cyclist. I hate the
very sight of a motor bicycle." After a brief interval of awestruck silence a voice from the gallery
called out--

"You are in league with him!" Then the man in the stalls stood up, and essayed to speak; but his
voice was drowned in a perfect tornado of applause. He had no need--he
was instantly recognized--he was J---- B----. With a few more examples
of clairvoyance Mr. Hamar continued to entertain his audience for half
an hour or so, by the end of which time, we have no hesitation in
saying that every one was convinced that he actually saw what, he
said, he saw. The second part of the programme was entirely in the hands of Mr.
Curtis, who now came forward with a bow.