The Argosy — page 104: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Mrs. Raven's Temptation. 89 repeated the request—the urgency of which he feared had not been fully comprehended. ‘Ves, yes,” repeated the officer, ‘‘ that can be easilydone. But of what do you suspect her, or accuse her? Of course we must know that ; or, as you may be aware, we should have no right to proceed.” ‘Well, she—she is certainly a fortune-teller,” observed Frank, wha suddenly found himself rather at a loss. ‘‘I have just been to her.” The officersmiled. ‘‘ What did she do?” he inquired. ‘She professed to describe the dead ; and she detailed particulars of my past and present history,” explained Frank. “Good,” said the officer, writing. ‘‘ And she demanded money for this, as a matter of course ?” “No,” dissented Frank, ‘‘she demanded none ; she even refused it when I offered it to her.” The officer put down his book. ‘Then I don’t see what we can do for you, if this was all. Do you, Mr. Cran?” he asked, turning to his colleague. ‘‘ People may tell any fabulous tales they please, if they do it simply for the love of the thing.” ‘Perhaps this was not all?” gruffly spoke Mr. Cran. If it had been all, neither of them saw why the young man should come to them. “Did she merely describe the dead to you ; or did she profess to call up a figure of it to your sight ?” asked the other. «She only described it.” ‘But that is what any of us could do. Well, sir, what else ?” Frank felt thoroughly nonplussed. The officers were watching him ; they seemed inclined to be as eager as he in the matter, if they could only be shown what the matter was. ‘“‘ Look at that ring,” he said, holding out his hand. ‘“ That be- longed to my dead father; and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it was safely locked up at Ravenscourt, in Hampshire, under my brother’s keeping. Yet, during this woman’s professed descrip- tion of my dead father just now, this ring drops—from somewhere— at my feet. Is that anything you can go upon?” The note-books were busy again. ‘‘ That willdo for a beginning, sir,” said Frank’s chief interrogator. ‘‘ The fact of possession has to be accounted for, you see. Of course she may have become possessed of it in some legitimate way that you know nothing of. Did she describe your dead father accurately, or not ?” ‘Quite so,” replied Frank. ‘Possibly she had seen him during his lifetime ?” “ Well—yes—possibly. But I do not see how she could have come at other things she said.” ‘“And you want to find this out. Well, Mr. Raven, as you have come to us, and you, of course, understand that we cannot work in the dark, you will not object to answer a few questions, will you ? Of course you speak to us in confidence.” CONNICMHOOKSs.E®