"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 016 - The Ghost Makers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

A circle of a dozen sitters was revealed. Both men and women were in the group, and their faces were
aghast. All eyes were centered toward the medium.

A sallow, nervous man, he lay slumped in his chair, with hands and feet bound as they had been arranged
at the beginning of the seance.

A heavy, hard-faced individual arose from the circle and approached the medium. A woman joined him,
and they managed to bring the medium from his trance. Still tied, he looked about, bewildered.

"Are you all right, Professor Jacques?" asked the man beside him.

The medium stared blankly, then recognized the man who had come to his aid.

"Yes, my friend," he said. "Yes, Mr. Harvey. I am all right. A terrible dream came to me in my trance.
Some dreadful, evil spirit seized my soul. It seemed to strike at my heart.

"I see you now, my friends. AhтАФMr. Castelle"тАФhe was addressing a dignified, middle-aged man across
the circleтАФ"I am glad that you were here. You were a skeptic. Now, you have seen how evil spirits can
act. Is it not terrible?"

Castelle nodded slowly. His face was as white and drawn as were the features of the others in that circle.
The medium, gaining new control of himself, glanced from person to person.

"Ah"тАФhe was speaking to a frightened, elderly womanтАФ"it was you to whom Little Flower was
speaking, was it not?"

"Yes, Professor Jacques."

"I am sorry that your message was interrupted. It was too bad, madam, that such should happen on your
first visit to my seance room. It is dangerous, sometimes, for me to gain messages for those who have
never been here before. Some evil is present tonight!"

He paused, as his eye, moving farther around the circle, rested on a tall, hawk-faced man who was
observing him with fixed, unchanging gaze. A frown appeared upon the forehead of Professor Jacques.

There was something about this silent individual that made the medium suspicious. The hawk-faced man,
alone of all those in the room, appeared unperturbed. His hands, long and slender, were resting on his
knees. His face was as firm as a stone chiseled countenance.

Professor Jacques was unable to meet those stern, unyielding eyes. The medium looked again at the
hands.

Upon one finger, Jacques observed a strange, mysterious gem, that glowed like an undying ember. Its
deep-purple rays changed to vivid crimson. That stone had the sparkle of living fire.

The medium fought against the fascination of that gem, and turned to the man beside him, the heavy-set
man whom he had addressed as Mr. Harvey.

"I think I am all right, now," he said. "I am glad that you are here, Mr. Harvey. You and these others