"
"A pretty cheap trick," exclaimed Craig when the attendant had gone.
"That's how he tells the gullible their names before they tell him.
I've a good notion to tear off two sheets. The second is chemically
prepared, with paraffin, I think. By dusting it over with powdered
charcoal you can bring out what was written on the first sheet over
it. Oh, well, let's let him get something across, anyway. Here
goes, our names and addresses, and underneath I'll write, 'What has
become of Georgette Gilbert?'"
Perhaps five minutes later the negro took the pad, the top sheet
having been torn off and placed in Kennedy's pocket. He also took
a small fee of two dollars. A few minutes later we were ushered
into the awful presence of the "Veiled Prophet," a tall, ferret-eyed
man in a robe that looked suspiciously like a brocaded dressing-gown
much too large for him.
Sure enough, he addressed us solemnly by name and proceeded directly
to tell us why we had come.
"Let us look into the crystal of the past, present, and future and
read what it has to reveal," he added solemnly, darkening the room,
which was already only dimly lighted. Then Hata, the crystal-gazer,
solemnly seated himself in a chair. Before him, in his hands,
reposing on a bag of satin, lay a huge oval piece of glass.
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