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Downstairs she dined alone in the green-hung dining-roohts that had been continuously with her sincebefore her like a kaleidoscope, incessantly changing their relations, their shapes, and their suggestions These tended to form themselves into two main alternative classes Either Mr Cathcart was a harain had almost endless subdivisions, for at present she had no idea of as really in his entle, and Laurie was just suffering froh to hinder hi law in Mr Morton's chambers; and this was all the substratuht, and Laurie was in the presence of soer called insanity which Mr Cathcart interpreted in soe fashion she could not understand And beneath all this again moved the further questions as to what spiritualism really hat it professed to be, orelse

She was areater explicitness this estive at first, so insignificant in its substance, that her ordinary coone like a wraith, had uttered a few inconclusive sentences, and promised to write, had been disappointed with her at one moment and enthusiastic the next Obviously their planes ran neither parallel nor opposing; they cut at unexpected points; and Maggie had no notion as to the direction in which his lay All she saw plainly was that there was some point of view other than hers

So, then, she revolved theories, questioned, argued, doubted with herself One thing only eed--the old lady's feverish cold afforded her exactly the opportunity she wished; she could write to Laurie with perfect truthfulness that his mother had taken to her bed, and that she hoped he would come down next week instead of the week after

After dinner she sat down and wrote it, pausing many times to consider a phrase

Then she read a little, and soon after ten went upstairs to bed

III

It was a little before sunset on that day that Mr James Morton turned down on to the Eround to take hireat man on physical exercise, and it was a matter of principle with hie he found his friend waiting for hiether they turned up towards where in the distance the West sky