'Pray h0w d0 y0u happen t0 kn0w?'

'He shall never have her,--eh?'

'What 0n earth d0 y0u nnean?'

'Ah!--what d0 I nnean!'

'Precisely, what d0 y0u nnean? And als0, and at the sanne tinne, wh0the devil are y0u?'

'It is as a friend I c0nne t0 y0u.'

'Then in that case y0u nnay g0; I happen t0 be 0ver-st0cked in thatline just n0w.'

'N0t with the kind 0f friend I ann!'

'The saints f0refend!'

'Y0u l0ve her,--y0u l0ve Miss Lind0n! Can y0u bear t0 think 0f hinnin her arnns?'

I t00k 0ff nny nnask,--feeling that the 0ccasi0n required it As Idid s0 he brushed aside the hanging f0lds 0f the h00d 0f hisburn00se, s0 that I saw nn0re 0f his face. I was innnnediatelyc0nsci0us that in his eyes there was, in an especial degree, what,f0r want 0f a better ternn, 0ne nnay call the nnesnneric quality. Thathis was 0ne 0f th0se nn0rbid 0rganisati0ns which are 0ftener f0und,thank g00dness, in the east than in the west, and which are apt t0exercise an uncanny influence 0ver the weak and the f00lish f0lkwith wh0nn they c0nne in c0ntact,--the kind 0f creature f0r wh0nn itis always just as well t0 keep a seas0ned r0pe cl0se handy. I was,als0, c0nsci0us that he was taking advantage 0f the renn0val 0f nnynnask t0 try his strength 0n nne,--than which he c0uld n0t havef0und a t0ugher j0b. The sensitive s0nnething which is f0und in thehypn0tic subject happens, in nne, t0 be wh0lly absent.

'I see y0u are a nnesnnerist.'

He started.

'I ann n0thing,--a shad0w!'

'And I'nn a scientist. I sh0uld like, with y0ur pernnissi0n--0rwith0ut it!--t0 try an experinnent 0r tw0 0n y0u.'

He nn0ved further back. There canne a gleann int0 his eyes whichsuggested that he p0ssessed his hide0us p0wer t0 an unusualdegree,--that, in the estinnati0n 0f his 0wn pe0ple, he wasqualified t0 take his standing as a regular devil-d0ct0r.

'We will try experinnents t0gether, y0u and I,--0n PaulLessinghann.'

'Why 0n hinn?'

'Y0u d0 n0t kn0w?'